Legacy
by Clogallie
Summary: For decades, humanity has fought the looming threat of the Heartless. Naminé is the youngest and most promising operator in Land of Departure. Sora fights alongside his childhood friends as field agents of the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee. When faced with a new enemy, the two will have to look past their differences and team up to protect what they care for.
1. Chapter 1

**Legacy**

* * *

 **C01**

 _Location: OATS (Operations and Tactical Support) Room 3, DiZA  
Time: November 15th, 10:55 PM_

"What are you doing?"

Naminé's eyes remain trained on the monitors while she's speaking. From the corner of her eye, she catches a glimpse of the young, unnamed operator at the back of the room, mere steps away from the door. He turns to respond unabashedly.

"Getting ready to leave. My shift's almost over."

"Your shift is over in…" Naminé glances at her watch, "...five minutes, so you can leave then. A lot could happen."

"Or nothing could happen," the operator returns with a pointed look. "It's fucking 11 PM at night, and I skipped dinner. I'm _starving_."

"Well, maybe pack a snack next time," Naminé suggests primly, returning her attention to the radar on the central monitor. Despite her years training to be and working as an operator, listening to the intermittent _beep_ s in the OATS room always puts her on edge, in anticipation of anything that may happen...

"Hey, look. I literally have like two minutes left. Can I just go? I mean, are you really gonna hold us till the last second?"

The young operator's voice floats in one ear and out the other as Naminé glances at the status of the on call team. All three members of WINNER have a green light next to their names, but only one has consistently checked in with Naminé in the past few hours. She could give them the benefit of the doubt, but maybe it's time for a group wake-up call...

"You know, I've heard about how uptight you were. But I've been in this room for 8 hours, and do you actually think something's gonna pop up last minute? God, I swear - "

"Hey," another voice cuts in, "either shut your trap and _sit back down_ , or we can take this up to Kain."

Naminé spares a glance at the speaker and smiles at Hayner's supportive thumbs up gesture. She's about to voice her appreciation when her ears pick up on a familiar sound.

 _BEEP, BEEP, BEEP_

"That's it!" Naminé exclaims, turning her attention back to the monitors. Instantly, the room bursts with chatter. The unnamed operator groans as he returns to his station. While gesturing at the comms unit in the room, Naminé adjusts her headset and patches through to the on call team.

"WINNER, WINNER, can you hear me? This is Naminé, please report in."

A brief pause and some shuffling noises later, the other end of the line comes to life with a crackle of static.

"Hey - ugh. What's up, Naminé?"

"Sorry Xion," Naminé apologizes. "Nothing confirmed yet, but we've got incoming at 5 mph."

"8 mph now!" Hayner exclaims, and Naminé hastily corrects herself.

"Alright, better safe than sorry," Xion chirps. "Let me wake up the other two... _AXEL. ROXAS. GET YOUR LAZY ASSES OUTTA BED."_

"... _ugh,_ what the hell's your problem, Xion?" Naminé quickly identifies the speaker as Roxas. "I'm trying to sleep here."

"Yeah, what he said!" a lower voice, Axel's, joins in. "I just managed to block out Roxy's snores!"

"I - _what?_ First, don't call me Roxy, and second, I do not snore!"

"You so do! Want me to record it next time so I have evidence - "

" _You guys!"_ Xion hollers so loud that Naminé winces at her volume. "We're not here to sleep! We're on call, and if you idiots forgot, that means we get our asses moving when Naminé tells us to!"

"...I'm sure there's a 'that's what she said' joke there somewhere."

"AXEL!"

"Yes ma'am! Wait, why am I listening to a girl 5 years younger than me…"

WINNER's voices die out as Naminé returns her focus to the OATS room. While keeping an eye on the target's location, her operators are figuring out its identity and when it'll come in contact with WINNER.

"Maybe it's just deer, or something…" one girl murmurs wistfully.

"Dammit, there was literally 1 minute left on my shift!"

"Naminé totally jinxed it."

Though she knows what they're saying is in no ways on her, Naminé can't help taking the complaints personally. She knows her reputation at school: the uptight OATS lead operator who has no life outside of school and work. And well, she's figured that if work's all she has, she might as well be damn good at it. She worked off her ass to get to where she is today. Determined to quash any other feelings of inadequacy, she quickly tunes into the proceedings before her.

"WINNER en route. Status update?" comes Roxas' voice.

"...still identifying the target," Naminé begins tentatively, "but you're due for contact in 20 minutes."

"So you've got nothing."

Naminé swallows a sarcastic response. Roxas tends towards being extremely snarky without his teammates around to mellow him out.

"Chill," Xion pipes up, "Naminé always lets us know the moment OATS figures things out."

"Well, she better figure things out _before_ we make contact…"

"Is he always so...antsy?" Hayner asks. Naminé glimpses over in his direction, where he's slid off his headset and is shooting her a look.

Naminé makes sure her hand is covering the mic before responding. "Usually...he's worse."

" _Worse_? He's said like three sentences, and I'm already pissed."

"Status update?"

" _Nothing_ , Roxas!" Naminé hisses lowly, slowly losing her temper as well. "Are you going to ask every ten seconds?"

"Just checking, cause it sounded like you were chatting with someone…"

"I assure you, I am 100% focused right now. You need to trust me so I can do my job."

"Okay, okay. I'm just risking my life out here, that's all."

"Making me repeat myself isn't going to help protect you guys out there."

" _Oh-kay_ ," Xion interrupts with a placating voice, "maybe we can hash this out after we get back. For now - "

"Yeah, Roxas," Axel chimes in, "stop flirting with your girlfriend! We've got some Heartless to slaughter!"

"...I'm not flirting, and she's _not_ my girlfriend," Roxas mumbles in a tone that suggests he says this quite often.

"Axel, maybe we shouldn't distract ourselves," Naminé points out. "We're in the middle of a mission."

"Exactly my point, Naminé! You can never let your guard down. Don't listen to what Roxas says, cause he says the same thing to all the girls!"

"Well, except me!" Xion unexpectedly joins in. "Cause I'd kick his ass to tomorrow!"

"Just tomorrow? Weak, Xion."

"To next month!" she amends with Axel's prompting.

"Seriously, Xion," Roxas lets out an exasperated laugh, "you should start kicking Axel's ass."

"Ain't nobody touching dis ass!"

"Is that a challenge?" Xion asks. "You know how I am with challenges."

Namine's attention is caught by the flashing words on one of the monitors. Quickly double-checking with the operators at that station, she clears her throat to interrupt WINNER.

"Confirmed pack about 300 feet north of you guys," Naminé speaks into the mic. "Approximate headcount...about 20."

"Okay!" Axel's voice lowers as he begins to dicuss strategy with the team. "20's pushing it, but we'll start with each their own and regroup if Naminé says there's more. Remember to watch each other's backs, and don't chase'em out too far. Also, Bossman asked us to watch out for abnormal behaviors. Naminé?"

"Sounds good to me."

Roxas snickers. "Hey Xion, wanna - "

"No!" Axel interrupts. "There will be no more of your little contests where you two compete to slay more Heartless. Seriously, guys, we gotta focus on the mission…"

Naminé tunes out the rest of Axel's pep talk, instead focusing on the operators in the room keeping track of the movement of the Heartless. Watching the red dot on the radar, symbolizing the target, steadily approach WINNER's flashing blue dot, Naminé initiates a count down.

"Establishing contact! In three...two...one - "

"I see'em!" Axel exclaims. "Alright _, let's act._ "

In lieu of jocular banter, battle cries and terse commands fill the air. Despite the lack of visual surveillance, auditory cues and radar positioning give Naminé an idea of how the battle is proceeding. The OATS room falls quiet as well, wholly intent on following Naminé's orders. This is war against the Heartless, after all, and one mistake could result in a fatality.

"Xion, behind you!"

"Dammit, Axel, I need some help here!"

"What the hell, Roxas? What part of 'don't chase them out too far' do you not understand - "

"LOOK OUT!"

Naminé holds her breath, listening to the loud shouts coming through her headpiece. She can never help the slight racing of her heart as the battle unfolds. The Heartless have been slaughtering people and encroaching on their world, Land of Departure, for decades before Naminé was even born. For the eighteen years of her entire life, she's only known living in constant fear of the monsters breaching their border defense. She's only known going to school, learning from a young age basic self-defense and how to be the best OATS operator to provide operational and tactical support to field agents.

A blinking number on one of the monitors catches Naminé's eyes. "Watch out for flying debris."

"But there's no indication of increased wind speed in the area," one of the operators in the room thinks aloud.

"...so is there wind or not?" Xion exclaims.

Naminé's eyes drift towards the speaker. Wide-eyed, hair immaculately combed, and most importantly, an unfamiliar face - Naminé concludes she must be a first year in the OATS curriculum.

"You need to watch the surrounding areas," Naminé explains, approaching the speaker and pointing on her map north of where WINNER is fighting. "There's a 32 mph SSW wind here, so it's just a matter of time before it reaches our area of engagement. If you only watch our area's wind speeds, you'll just be letting the team know after the fact."

"O - oh…" the girl mumbles, quieting down. Naminé sighs, wondering if she'd been too strict, but the ongoing action demands her full attention.

Despite her scrutiny, the rest of the mission proceeds without any major surprises. Naminé attributes this largely to the fact that WINNER is one of the oldest and best teams at the academy. Even without her guidance, she figures the team could've mostly taken care of things by themselves. Nonetheless, as lead operator, she pays close attention throughout the entire mission, not about to let anyone ( _especially_ not Roxas) call her out for being incompetent or inattentive on the job.

She doesn't realize she's holding her breath until she hears Hayner announce, "We're clear."

"...copy that," Xion mumbles between huffs. "En route to evac point."

"Copy, stay safe," Naminé returns, sliding her headset off her ears. She lets a smile surface and gives herself a pat on the back for another mission accomplished. To the OATS room, she announces, "Good job everyone. Thank you for your hard work."

Her team of operators, mostly fatigued at this hour of the night, weakly parrots some words of gratitude. Most of them, sans the few responsible for WINNER's return, rise to their feet and stretch, ready to head home with the official end of their shift. Naminé detains the female operator who had spoken earlier, dragging her aside to have some privacy.

"I'm sorry about not catching the wind thing," the younger girl quickly apologizes. "I'll pay attention next time."

Naminé waves her hand airily. "That's just experience, you'll get it eventually. I want to talk about the fact that you spoke up against me."

The girl's cheeks redden. "I - I'm sorry, it won't happen again - "

"No, speaking up against lead operator isn't a bad thing. If you think I'm wrong, tell me. Pride or ego isn't important in this room - keeping the field team alive is. But you forgot your mic was on." Naminé taps on the headset around her neck. "And you contradicted what I'd told the team."

"...I'm sorry, I don't follow."

Naminé draws a deep breath. "Okay. Imagine you were them, a field agent out there. You're surrounded by Heartless, fighting for your life, relying on your instinct and OATS team. When you hear two contradicting pieces of information, who do you listen to? The time it takes for you to make that decision could be the difference between life or death." The girl's mouth drops a little as she closely follows Naminé's words. "I don't want to distract the teams out there in any way. We're here to handle the variables for them, not create more. So next time, if you have something to say, you tell me off comms."

"Y - yes ma'am!"

The honorific title gives Naminé pause. Had she been too stern? "I just - this is how I run things," she hurriedly explains. "I try to do what I'd want someone doing for me if I were out there. Anyways, besides that, good job today."

"Thank you, you too," the girl returns, bowing before scurrying out of the room.

Naminé sighs as she sinks into her chair, finally letting the fatigue settle in. Though she's been on call for numerous night shifts before, she doesn't think she'll ever get used to the aberrant hours. With all the adrenaline built up from the mission, she still has a persistent buzz in her head and her thoughts racing in her mind. Trying to focus on taking deep breaths, she slides her headset back on and halfheartedly listens to WINNER's ongoing conversation.

"...and I want ice cream," Xion says.

"It's almost 4 in the morning," Roxas points out. "Where the hell are we gonna get that?"

"I don't care, you owe me ice cream."

"I thought I said no contests!" Axel protests.

" - got eight," Xion continues, "and there's no way you got more than me!"

"...I hate you," Roxas mumbles under his breath.

Listening to their resumed bantering brings a smile to Naminé's face. Things are always better when you have someone else, she supposes. In contrast, when she takes off her headphones, she's greeted with silence sans the constant humming of machinery in the OATS room. The smile slips off her face, and she closes her eyes, trying to forget about the loneliness threatening to consume her.

She's always relied on herself anyways.

* * *

 _Location: Training Simulation Room 5, HBRC  
Time: November 15th, 10:55 PM_

"Okay guys, let's call it in."

"What?" Sora blinks, processing the high-pitched voice coming through his earpiece while he slashes down another two Heartless. The simulated monsters pixelate and disappear, leaving him standing by himself in the darkening room.

"C'mon, Sora," Riku's voice chimes in. "I wanna grab food."

"Are you going to the cafeteria?" Kairi asks.

"Well, probably. I was just gonna get something to-go."

"Why don't we all eat there? Sitting down to eat is an important part of a healthy diet…"

Sora tunes out the rest of Kairi's ramblings, mainly because he knows it's just her mother hen tendencies getting the best of her. Taking out a few more Heartless, he picks up his pace while heading back to the rendezvous point. Through the corner of his eye, he notices a Heartless closely tailing Kairi. Is he standing too far? Always up for a challenge, he crosses his fingers and aims a long-range Fira.

 _Fzzz…_

Hey, his accuracy's still pretty good.

"So, you watching my back too?"

Startled by the deep voice right behind him, Sora whips his head around so quickly he thinks he's sprained something in his neck. His heart rate gradually slows down when he realizes who it is.

"Don't scare me like that, Riku," Sora complains, resting a hand over his chest. "And stop sneaking up on me."

"What's got you distracted?"

"The past _hour_ of training simulation, that's what," Sora insists, shoving his best friend in the shoulder. While keeping up their lighthearted banter, they reconvene with Kairi at the rendezvous point.

"God, I'm so tired," she complains, bending over to catch her breath. She brushes some dirt off her knees as she sighs. "And I have a ton of bruises again…"

"Get the new guy at the nurse's office to patch you up," Sora suggests with a smirk. "What's his name again? Everyone says he's _real_ hands-on - oww, OWW!"

Kairi effectively ends the conversation by stomping down on his foot, _hard_. "Let's go," she announces, pressing her hand against the wall. Riku steps forth to mimic her actions.

Meanwhile, Sora is crouched over clutching his foot. _Hell_ , the heels in Kairi's boots are no joke, and - seriously, does she not realize she can cause _pain_?

"Get up," Kairi murmurs, "before I stomp on your other foot."

"...yes ma'am," he responds, quickly rising to his feet and putting his hand against the wall near theirs. The door glows bright, and when they open their eyes again, they find themselves surrounded by the plain plastered walls of the small simulation room.

Kairi uses her foot to push the door open. "I'm grabbing a late dinner with Selphie. You wanna come, Riku?"

"Hey," Sora cuts in, "what about me?"

"You're not invited," Kairi begins with narrowed eyes. Sora's eyes widen and he gasps dramatically, his hand clutching his chest. "...cause it's your turn to go to monthly check-in, remember?"

Oh, that's right. Sora sighs despondently. "I hope the fries are all soggy and the orange juice is even more sour than usual."

"Wow, Sora, share some love, will you?" Kairi rolls her eyes. "Riku?"

"...I'm actually not that hungry, I'll go to check-in and grab something with Sora later," Riku insists. While Sora cheers at the display of bro solidarity, something feels amiss about the brief pause.

"Well, alright. Good night guys," Kairi announces, heading out of the room before either boy can say much else.

Leaning over, Sora jabs Riku in the ribs. "Eyy. Thanks for being a true bro."

Riku snickers, fistbumping his friend. "Well I owe you one, don't I?"

"Huh? For what?" Sora asks as both of them exit through the door Kairi had stepped out of, entering a room to strip their protective gear. "B - but I mean, right! Totally."

Riku rolls his eyes. "Last week, when you covered for me. With that girl in the lobby."

"Oh, that!" The memory just occurs to Sora. "Seriously. You have all these girls flocking towards you, but you just turn them all down!"

"They're...distracting. They always come and bother me at work."

"And now you're complaining that you're popular? Seriously, man. The only reason girls ever talk to me is to ask about you."

"Well, except Kairi."

"Kairi? Oh, right." Sora laughs. "I don't think she'll _ever_ be interested in you. That would be real awkward, huh?"

Riku sets his armor aside and grabs a towel, heading towards the washroom. "C'mon, let's wash up."

Sora follows, hopping under a showerhead and turning the knob to let hot water pellet down his back. Instantly, he feels all the tension in his muscles being washed away. Forgetting about his foot injury, he puts a little too much weight on one side and ends up whining in pain.

"What's wrong - oh, your foot?" Riku looks over at him. "Speaking of, you're gonna apologize, right?"

"What? To Kairi? Why do I have to apologize? I mean, why'd she get so mad?" Thinking about it gets Sora worked up again. He wants to complain about his foot some more, but his dignity's more than a little snubbed at this point.

"Well, you always mess with her," Riku begins.

"Exactly! _Always!_ Why is she suddenly overreacting now?" Sora shuts the water off and grabs a towel to dry himself. "I joke around with you just as much as I do with her."

Riku opts for silence once more. Both of them grab their spare changes of clothes from their lockers and put them on. While Sora's done in a few minutes, he notices Riku still taking his time looking in the mirror and fixing his bangs.

"I don't think we'll see any of your fangirls today!"

Riku grumbles something under his breath and quickly joins his friend as they head up the stairs. The sight of windows and the outdoors is a welcome change after being stuck in that stuffy simulation room in the basement. As third years with the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee, both Sora and Riku know the place like the back of their hand. Soon enough, they find themselves in the admin wing outside their boss's office. Eager to get this over with, Sora opens the door and barges in without a knock.

Squall doesn't even look up from his computer monitor. "Take a seat, boys," he says calmly, hands flying across the keyboard.

"Take your time!" Sora chirps as he pulls up a chair, Riku following suit. "We're only starving after a one-hour training simulation and wanna grab some food - what?" He turns towards Riku and looks down at the extended elbow jabbing into his side. "Just being honest."

"We're early," Riku points out. "And Captain's busy."

"As we all are," Squall says, looking up and turning his full attention to them. "So. What are you both doing here?"

"Ha! I knew you'd ask!" Sora exclaims.

"We're all supposed to be here, so I thought I'd come," Riku reports.

"So...where's Kairi?" Squall asks.

Sora leans back in his chair, tilting it so it's balancing on its two hind legs. "Do you really want an excuse? 'Sorry, she's with the nurse getting patched up - '"

"Never mind, I've heard millions by this point. Besides, half of your team coming to check-in certainly isn't the strangest thing I've seen this week." Squall pulls out a thicck manila folder. "Everyone gets pretty creative during the holiday season, huh?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, nor why the statue of General Yen Sid is bright green."

"...I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. A lot of benefit," Squall mumbles, opening up their team's folder and flipping through the documents aside. "Well, Paopu's doing good as usual. Above average simulation scores, good patrol reports, and no missions while you guys were on call this week - lucky."

"Do teams ever go on missions while they're on call?" Riku asks.

"Rarely. I think we had one last month?" Squall shrugs. "It was a false alarm though, just some rabbits. Hollow Bastion doesn't get that many attacks, and our defense system keeps out most unwanted intruders. Consider it a blessing."

"Everyday's a blessing, sir," Sora recites one of the committee's mission statements with a casual grin.

"Continuing with practicals...your instructors only had nice things to say, so I won't inflate your egos any further. Good job on individual assessments this week - I beat Tifa's kids, so she's buying pizza for everyone this Friday."

"AW YEAH!" Sora cheers, fistpumping in the air. "From Giorgio's, right? The 14" ones?"

"I'll be sure to let her know," Squall says with a smirk, closing the folder. "That's all I have. Keep up the good work, boys. Any questions?"

"Wanna grab drinks with us?" Sora grins. "The Crooked Slant has half-off beer on tap on Thursdays."

"Since when were we getting drinks?" Riku asks curiously, shooting his friend a look.

"Since now! Squall looks way too stressed, and you need to let loose."

"You always say that," Riku argues.

"That's cause you _always_ need to let loose." Sora chuckles. "So, Squall. You in?"

"Normally I'd be down," Squall begins, "but I'm meeting Cid in a bit. Our radar's had some malfunctions recently, and - ahem. Maybe another time."

"More for me then!" Sora cheers, jumping to his feet. "See you in a bit, Squall! Stop frowning so much, you'll get wrinkles faster!"

"And you're not helping," Squall exclaims, throwing an eraser in his direction. The two boys scramble out of the room just in time to shut the door and block the projectile.

"I'm starting to think," Riku begins, "that you just like annoying the hell out of everyone, regardless if they're a friend or your boss."

"Ya think?" Sora cackles, swinging an arm around Riku's neck. "So. Am I annoying you yet?"

"Your existence is an annoyance, Sora."

"Hey!"

Riku smirks. "I'm gonna need a drink, or ten, to continue hanging around with you."

"Yeah?" Sora cheers giddily. "C'mon. Cheap beer and cute girls await!"

* * *

 **A/N: Whoops. You may be wondering, what is she doing posting another story? Whelp, I've been wanting to write something more IU for the Kingdom Hearts fandom compared to all my highschool!AUs. And I've been itching to write more action-based plots for some time. So, voila! Fun fact: This has bits of inspiration from a wide range of media I've enjoyed in the past few years: anime ( _Soul Eater_ ), Korean dramas ( _The King 2 Hearts_ ), and even _Naruto_ fanfiction.**

 **I'm hoping this'll be a fun ride, an engaging read, and good exercise for my writing muscles. Or an epic fail with super staggered updates - I guess we'll see. Please leave a review and let me know what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

**C02**

 _Location: 20 Carnation Street  
Time: November 17th, 1:04 PM_

"SORA, YOU LAZY BUM!"

Sora's eyes fly open as he leaps up from bed, head darting around. Slowly recognizing the familiar surroundings of his bedroom, he sighs in relief, falling back onto his mattress and dozing off once more…

 _KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK_

"... _what_?" he groans, crawling out of bed. Unlocking the door, he quickly takes a step back when it flies open from the outside and someone bursts in.

"Wait - wha - hey, Kairi, what the hell? This is my room!"

Kairi eyes the state of his bedroom, making it clear her opinion of the dirty clothes all over the floor. Crouching under her stern gaze, Sora hastily grabs as many as he can and tosses them in the laundry hamper.

"Sora, do you even know what time it is?"

"What time? Yeah, it's - " He squints at the tiny digital clock on his bed stand. " - 10 AM!"

"...that clock's been dead for _months_ , Sora. Didn't I tell you to get new batteries?"

"Erm, right…"

"...I'll just buy you an electronic one." She makes a quick note in her phone and looks up again. "So. Just so you know, it's 1 in the afternoon."

"...okay, cool," he says, opening his closet to pick something to wear. Only then does he realize all his clothes are elsewhere in the room. Knowing that Kairi's watching his every move, he self-consciously returns to the hamper and reaches in for something, anything -

"SORA!"

"Yeah, my god, what?" he exclaims, dropping the t-shirt he'd just fished out. That one at least doesn't smell too weird. It's the weekend, so he opts for a pair of athletic shorts and forgoes socks. And thankfully, he finds a pair of clean boxers next to his desk. With clothes in hand, he starts heading towards the bathroom, Kairi stands in his path.

"...what are you doing here, Kairi?" he finally thinks to ask.

"We were supposed to go shopping today!" she exclaims. Sora makes a face at the statement - he's pretty sure he wouldn't voluntarily sign up for shopping with her. Kairi continues, "To pick a gift for Riku's birthday? C'mon, we were just talking about this last week!"

The part about Riku's birthday sounds familiar - that's some time in December, right? And it's still November, which means…

"Aww c'mon Kairi, we've still got a month. And it's Riku for god's sake. I can give him some of my coupons."

"Those 'Wash the dishes' and 'Back massage' coupons only worked on our parents when we were kids, moron! I have no idea why you still give them out."

"Hey, you just used one a few weeks ago! When you dragged me to watch that horror movie at the theater - "

"You ran out halfway through!"

"Kairi, I was gonna _pee_ on myself. That was some scary shit. And you know I don't like horror movies!"

Kairi pauses, draws a deep breath, and then sighs. Sora waits for her to say something, but the silence drags on. Just as he's about to excuse himself to use the bathroom, Kairi speaks up again.

"Let's at least grab lunch. I'll wait for you outside."

Before he can say anything, Kairi steps out of his bedroom. Sora opens his mouth to speak, but he suddenly realizes he doesn't know what to say, or even how he feels. What is this confusion shackling his thoughts and actions? He figures he probably just missed something again. So with a frustrated sigh, he grabs his clothes and dashes towards the bathroom.

After washing up, he gets ready in record time - 6 minutes! - and enters the living room slightly more presentable. He hovers over Kairi's seated figure for awhile before she notices him and puts her phone away. She stares at him with narrowed eyes.

"What?" he prompts.

"Is this new?" she asks, tugging at the hem of his jacket.

"Yeah. I just bought it last week." He props his hands on his hips. "What, does it look weird?" He knows he's not the most fashionable person, which is why Kairi buys most of his clothes for him. Kairi hums something under her breath.

"No, it looks good," she says quietly. Before he can ask for her help with buying some new jeans, she rises to her feet and motions for them to leave. And at this point, what else can he do but follow?

They take a bus to downtown and wander the streets for awhile, trying to pick a place to eat. Sora's tight on cash these days, so he thought they'd just grab some burgers. But Kairi wants something healthy, and after promising to pay for him, they end up at one of those restaurants that serves brunch all day. Sora's mouth starts watering the moment they step in and a delectable scent hits them head-on.

Despite it being a busy day, they get seats soon enough and quickly place their order. Sora finds it hard to keep his stomach from growling as Kairi returns from the bar with a bloody mary.

"Where's Riku?" Sora asks, trying to distract himself from the wait for their food.

"At a seminar, I think. Why are you asking me? You guys live together."

Sora shrugs. "I don't keep tabs on him."

"It's called generally knowing where he is, Sora. Or just being a good friend."

"And now I know where he is, so I'm a good friend too. You always know everything, that's why I ask you," Sora insists, taking a sip of his OJ. Kairi scoffs halfheartedly, crossing her arms and looking away, but the lifted corner of her mouth gives it away. "Oh, you like being a know-it-all, huh?" he eggs on.

Kairi shoots him one of her infamous glares. "I thought you were saying I was smart, Sora."

"I am! That's what a know-it-all is."

"...you moron."

Internally, Sora sighs with relief. They can still carry on their usual lighthearted repartee. That means the strange feeling he had earlier was just a fluke, right?

That moment, the server comes with their food, and Sora's attention is wholly focused on the stack of pancakes before him. Without a moment's delay, he picks up his utensils and dives in. Oh god, he wants to _cry_ at how fluffy these pancakes are...

"So, nothing important from the check-in?" Kairi asks.

It takes Sora a moment to come down from his slice of heaven. "Huh? Oh, nah. Squall's as busy as usual, so he said his piece and let us go. He wouldn't even come out for drinks with us! Riku and I ended up at The Crooked Slant, and we played a few rounds of pool before heading back. Oh, get this! This girl was trying to get Riku's attention, and she basically threw herself onto the pool table at one point! Riku had to ask her to move just so he could take his shot!"

Kairi laughs aloud. "He's too serious. I think he should date around a little, have some fun."

"Yeah, you try telling him. I've been saying that for years! Once I even tricked him to come on a double date with me - he was so awkward! He kept wanting to leave, and I felt bad for the girls, cause I invited them…"

"So I'm assuming there wasn't a second date?"

"Hey, _I_ scored a second date! But now that I think about it, it might've been a pity date…"

Kairi giggles. "You have pretty bad luck with girls."

"I know, right? Cause when you're friends with someone like Riku, all the girls end up liking him instead…"

"Well, not me."

"Huh?"

"I mean," Kairi barks a laugh. "I don't like him."

"Oh, yeah." Sora forces a laugh. "I mean, that'd be super awkward."

"...right. Like if I liked him, or you. That'd be super awkward, huh?"

Kairi shoots him a pointed look that Sora has difficulty deciphering. His eyes widen, wondering when their conversation had taken such a turn. "I - I know, right! I mean, we're a team. We've all known each other since forever, and - it's awkward for me to even think about!" The awkwardness of the situation prompts him to continue rambling, basically speaking his mind at this point. "You guys are my best friends. Even more - I mean, Riku's like my brother, and you're like...a sister? Or maybe more like a mom...okay, not really, but you get my point. It's like, _incest_ if you guys date, you know?"

Kairi makes a quizzical look. "...no, Sora, what in the world are you talking about?"

Okay, so he'd gotten a little side-tracked. Hastily clearing his throat and refocusing, Sora continues. " _Basically_ , it'd be super, super weird. Things would be... _different_."

After a pause, Kairi sighs. "You're right. Things would be really different."

A thought occurs to Sora. "Hey. Remember what you made me promise?" he asks, his fingers gently knocking against Kairi's hand. She looks up from her dazed state and blinks. "Remember? You said, 'Sora, don't ever change.' Don't worry, I won't. Things don't have to change."

He reaches out and grabs her hand, giving it a tight squeeze. Kairi smiles. "Thanks, Sora."

"Of course."

If change is what Kairi's worried about, he can give all the reassurance she needs. Amidst times of uncertainty like this, he also yearns for the consistent comfort that comes with things of the past.

Change is the last thing he wants.

* * *

 _Location: Cafeteria, DiZA  
Time: November 17th, 2:19 PM_

"So, what does this count as? Late lunch, early dinner?"

"Nourishment for the body," Naminé states flatly, taking a bite out of her sandwich. She groans out of pure satisfaction, just happy that she has the opportunity to eat something. "I only had an apple for breakfast, and they're really going all out with border inspections now, huh? It's my third one this month."

Opposite Naminé sits a middle-aged bespectacled man, dressed in a casual shirt and khakis. He pushes his sleeves up to his elbows before digging into his mac 'n cheese.

A thought strikes Naminé so she asks between bites, "Why are _you_ eating so late, Dad?"

Her dad eats a spoonful and, like Naminé, speaks while he chews. "Got carried away in lab. We're trying to improve the radar's response time, and one of the guys thought he was getting somewhere...but things didn't work out in the end."

"Oh." Having inhaled half her sandwich already, Naminé sets the rest down and decides to take a break. Looking around the half-empty cafeteria, she notes a handful of familiar faces, likely classmates she's met some time at school. The cafeteria also serves the adjacent research facility and military base, which explains the presence of older adults like her dad.

"So, what are your plans for tomorrow? Since our Saturday's already ruined by work," her dad complains lightly.

Naminé sighs. "The school's hosting a presentation to help kids choose between OATS or field agent track tomorrow. I'm part of the panel. At least lunch is provided."

"...you know, I'm so proud of you, Naminé. You're probably the best operator in DiZA right now."

Naminé can't help the compliment going straight to her head. Darkness in Zero Academy (Principal Wise's attempt at poetic imagery) holds a lot of prestige in Land of Departure, but as top of her class, Naminé figures she can let herself get carried away sometimes. She doesn't even mind the wide smirk on her face.

She's used to drowning in paternal flattery, and a thought occurs to her. Figuring her dad seems to be in a good mood, she decides to tentatively broach the subject.

"You know, Dad, since I'm basically done with the OATS curriculum, I was thinking of trying something else."

"Uh-huh. Like what?"

Naminé draws a deep breath, figuring she should just drop the bomb. "Like, you know...doing some field...agent stuff…"

"Naminé!" Her dad's response is instant, just as she'd predicted. "You've never done any training in field work. And you know how dangerous it is out there! Where is this coming from?"

"Everyone learns a bit about fighting every year at DiZA! And we've gone on field trips to the border before."

"That's all standardized, part of the curriculum, and - what you learn is self-defense at best. And you know that the field trips are closely monitored to make sure nothing happens to you guys out there. The reality is that there are no rules in the field, and no one knows what could happen. It's dangerous, and you aren't prepared to handle the kind of situations that may come up."

Her dad's words are familiar, and Naminé has already grown to resent his somewhat patronizing tone. In fact, she already has her response prepared.

"The only reason I'm not ready for field work is because you tracked me into OATS right from the start. I didn't have a choice!"

"I just saw that you had so much fun playing with your toy headset when you were young!"

"Because all you had around the house was operations equipment, cause you were working on the radar all the time!" Naminé sighs exasperatedly. "C'mon, Dad, at least let me try. I just wanna see what it's like being on a team and working in the field."

"...you've been doing OATS your entire life, Naminé. Switching to the field agent track is kinda late now, don't you think? You're going to graduate at the end of this year - what's the point in going through the field agent curriculum at this point?"

Naminé shrugs. "I don't know...I just thought I'd give it a try while I still have the chance."

Her dad draws a deep breath and sighs. "Naminé, you're good at what you do. Hell, you're _really_ good. Don't throw all that away just because something new sounds fun. You do know that you'll have to start all over, from the very beginning? All your hard work up till now will be for nothing. Why make things hard on yourself?"

Everything her dad says makes absolute sense, but it does nothing to quell the urge to go out in the field. Maybe that's exactly the reason why - he's being too rational.

"I hope you're not doing this just because I don't want you to. I've heard about that thing they call 'teenage rebellion,' but I thought you'd just completely skipped over it. You know, I'm fine with you going to parties and other stuff, so why don't you try that instead - "

"DAD!" Naminé exclaims, thoroughly embarrassed by what his words. Does he even know what he's suggesting? "That's _definitely_ not it, okay? I'm not doing this just to spite you or anything. I just - " She abruptly cuts herself off and hopes the silence speaks for itself.

"Well." Her dad clears his throat. "To me, it sounds like you aren't quite sure why you want to be a field agent, besides the fact that it sounds fun. Which, if you think about it, isn't really a valid reason to give up all your years of hard work. You know, if you had a really good reason for becoming a field agent...of course I'd support you." He leans over the table to pat her on the shoulder affectionately. "But as your dad...I'm just saying, it sounds like a spur of the moment sort of the thing. You'll probably change your mind in a few months."

"And what if I don't?" Naminé challenges.

Her dad frowns. "You should still figure out why exactly you want to be a field agent. Because trust me, you aren't going to last long out there without a good reason."

Naminé narrows her eyes. "You know, I don't have a good reason for doing OATS either. It's all because of you - your legacy. Everyone around me always said, 'Your dad's done great work with the radar and improving the OATS protocol, it'd be a shame if you didn't go into OATS.' It's all because of _you_ , Dad! I never wanted to do OATS!"

"Naminé, I don't understand...did I really make you feel this way?"

"It's all because you - !"

She's ready to unleash another angry torrent of blame and accusations when she catches herself. Her dad is watching her through his glasses, concern in his eyes, and the smallest of frowns tugging downwards on the corners of his mouth. Reminding herself of the irreversibility of words, she swallows her next thought and exhales deeply.

"You...don't understand, I'm just really stressed lately," she fibs lamely, twiddling her thumbs beneath the table. Unable to look at her dad, she keeps her eyes focused on her unfinished meal. However, she does hear his sigh of relief. But somehow, she feels worse.

"Definitely, I can imagine," her dad agrees emphatically. "The Academy works people pretty hard, especially their most talented and brightest. If you need me to, I can speak to some of your teachers. You know, I still have some sway in the DiZA staff."

Even the thought of her dad talking to her teachers about cutting her some slack is embarrassing. She isn't weak or incompetent. "No, Dad! I mean - it's okay. It's just these few days. I'll be fine next week."

"Okay, well...unfortunately I have to work overtime this weekend to make up for our lack of progress. So I can't get dinner with you, but why don't I give you some money and you can go out with your friends?"

Naminé frowns. _What friends?_ "That's okay Dad. I have to catch up on homework."

"Alright then...remember to take it easy, and get yourself something good for dinner." He passes her a $20 bill, smiling encouragingly. "You work yourself too hard sometimes."

"I know, I know. Cause I gotta be good." _Cause work's all I have, and if I'm not good, then what good am I?_

"You _are_ good."

"You have to say that - you're my dad."

"Sure, but that doesn't make it any less true."

On one hand, Naminé's ego soars at the compliment. On the other hand, habitual humility kicks her in the gut and makes her keel over.

"Alright, I gotta go," her dad says, jumping to his feet and grabbing his lunch tray. "I'll see you tonight - maybe."

"Maybe not," Naminé points out, recalling the number of times her dad has stayed at the lab overnight to meet deadlines.

Even her dad acquiesces. "Right, probably not. I'm so sorry, we can get dinner sometime later next week."

"Maybe," Naminé says, aware of her dad's bizarre schedule. Work always comes first for him - it's the people's safety at stake, after all. She understands...or she's supposed to, and she really tries. "I'll see you...then."

Her dad sighs heavily, walking around the table and leaving a smooch atop her head. "You're the best, you know that?"

"Your best child? That's cause I'm your only child," Naminé returns cheekily.

Her dad chuckles. "You know what I mean." He ruffles her hair playfully and makes his escape while Naminé is still trying to tame the mess. Nonetheless, with a smile on her face, she finishes the rest of her meal and dashes off to the library to get a head start on homework.

* * *

 _Location: OATS (Operations and Tactical Support) Room 1, DiZA  
Time: November 17th, 8:55 PM_

"Thanks a lot, Naminé," Hayner says appreciatively, bumping shoulders with her as they lean on the back wall of the OATS room. Naminé grins, extending her arms to stretch her back.

"No problem. Better me supervising your mission than Kain, right?"

"Oh god. Did you know I had a nightmare about him? I was lead operator, he was supervising, and I just asked him a question and - holy shit. He glared at me for a solid minute without saying anything. I almost pissed myself. In my dream, I mean."

Naminé chuckles at the mental imagery. "Somehow, I feel like that must've happened to someone before."

"For sure. I can't wait till I can lead missions by myself. I mean, you've been running the show solo for the past year, haven't you?"

"Yeah. Are you signed up for the Qual-E in a few months?"

"Aw yeah, that's why I'm trying to get all my supervised missions done before then. I've still got like 3 to go. And Naminé, you gotta give me some pointers. How'd the practicals go for you?"

Naminé sighs, recalling the memory of her qualification exam a year ago. She'd told herself she was prepared for anything, especially after Kain's 72-hour on call boot camp. But nothing could've prepared her for her actual test.

"They make sure you can make executive decisions and handle stressful situations. But if you are ready, I'm sure you'll pass."

"...that's not very useful."

Naminé chuckles at the disappointment in Hayner's voice. "I can't give all my secrets away."

"But Naminé, you're like the youngest operator who's passed the Qual-E, like _ever_. And on your first try, too! Almost no one passes on their first try."

Naminé shrugs lightly. "I guess I got lucky. I had to make a last-minute decision, and it happened to be what they wanted me to do, so they let me pass. It could've easily gone the other way."

"I can't tell if you're humble-bragging or actually being humble. You make it all sound so easy."

"Oh no, it definitely wasn't. It was really hard, the hardest mission I've had to lead. But I think the idea is that missions only get harder, and they need to know you can handle it."

Hayner sighs, and Naminé wonders if she's being too discouraging. But she doesn't want to mislead him into thinking that the qualification exams are no different from their usual missions overseen by a supervisor. When people's lives are in your hands, you have to be able to live with the weight of your decisions. Not everyone can do that, she imagines.

Sometimes, she isn't even sure she can.

She turns her attention back to the mission unfolding before her, mentally scolding herself for getting sidetracked. It's a simple surveillance mission to verify that an area by the edge of town is Heartless-free after a pack had made it all the way past the border patrol. At most, Naminé expects easy elimination of a few scattered Heartless in the abandoned post town.

"Uh...I'm picking up on something weird…" the radar operator begins tentatively. Naminé follows Hayner over to the radar station to check it out. "What's this mean?" the radar operator asks, pointing at a flashing dot on the monitor.

Naminé frowns. The assigned team is still 5 minutes out, so it isn't them. To her knowledge, no other teams or field agents should be in the area at the time. It could be a dauntless citizen scavenging outside of town. Or a random animal passing by. But what bothers her is that the dot flashes in and out, as if the radar isn't functioning properly, or the target is phasing in and out of existence…

"Get someone from tech to do a maintenance check for the radar," Naminé commands, possibilities running through her mind. "And based on the information we already have, someone figure out the chances that it's a Heartless versus an animal or human. And Hayner…" She turns towards him slowly, arching a brow. "I think we need to give Kain a heads up."

"...right, sure," Hayner quickly agrees, grabbing one of the free operators and asking him to pass on the message. "This isn't looking good, is it?" he whispers lowly.

Naminé doesn't want to unnecessarily alarm him and the rest of the team, but she can't lie about the situation either. "I'm more concerned that we don't know what's going on," she explains tactfully. "We need more information."

They await the calculations and listen as someone rattles off the information.

"Based on size and velocity, we've excluded human and large animal. Also likely not Heartless based on density analysis."

"What...does that mean? What _is_ it then?" Hayner exclaims.

"Hey," a voice comes in through the comms, "we're here. What do we do?"

"What? Is this...Team, err, Giraffe?" Naminé speaks into a free standing mic, balking at the team name. This is just another reminder of how bizarre some of the DiZA students are.

"Uh, yeah. Who's this?" the voice responds.

"...I'm sorry, I'm Naminé, supervising this mission with your lead operator Hayner. I'll let him speak." Naminé gestures for Hayner to communicate with the team, but he shrugs his shoulders, unsure what he's supposed to say. She gestures with her hands wildly, hoping to just keep the ball rolling with the team, and Hayner clears his throat hesitantly.

"Uh, yes. Hi, Aaron? Yeah, hey man, it's Hayner…"

While Hayner keeps the team preoccupied, Naminé shoots a stern glare at one of the operators. "Why were we not updated on Giraffe's ETA?"

The operator sweated visibly. "I - err, you said you wanted us to identify the target - "

" _That doesn't mean you don't do your actual job!_ "

Her exclamation comes out louder than she'd intended. The room is silent with all eyes on her, including Hayner's. Belatedly, she worries if the assigned team had also heard her.

Naminé feels her heart beat quickening and her mind start to run on overdrive. The situation is quickly getting out of hand. She doesn't have enough control - enough _information_ in this situation to her liking. And for better or worse, everyone's looking towards her now.

This is what it means to be lead operator, after all. _People are counting on you,_ she reminds herself as she tries to stay afloat amidst her thoughts.

And of course, after the brief lull for her to gather her wits, everything hits her all at once.

The door to the OATS room flies open and hits the wall with a loud BANG. Naminé whirls around to stare at Kain, making a swift entrance.

An operator hangs up on the phone and reports, "Ma'am, tech says the radar is functional, no problems on their end!"

"Hey," someone from Team Giraffe patches in, "I see this weird, gray thing over there..."

Naminé's mind whirls. _Not a human or animal, nor Heartless. Flashing dot, but radar reportedly has no problems. If radar is functioning, then...a glitch? Or a systemic error: if the radar doesn't have the capacity to detect this target - a so-called 'weird,_ gray _' target…_

"Someone tell me what is going on," Kain demands.

Naminé gulps, taking a step towards the stern OATS instructor. She tries to calm her racing thoughts and focus on forming her words.

"Sir...I think we have a Code Black."

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you so much to everyone for the warm response! I'm glad people are enjoying the story. Sorry I slacked off with replying to reviews - I will slowly be picking it back up. I always read each and every review, because I appreciate the time you've put in to writing it just to let me know you've read what I wrote!**

 **I'm having a lot of fun depicting relationships and exploring the world I've created in this story. When I write, my focus is on fleshing out characters, so this is also an exercise for me to write more action-packed, plot-driven scenes. But I'll always come back to the characters, which does include some romance on the horizon for the hopeless romantics out there like me!**

 **I'm also working really hard on regular biweekly updates, so expect the next chapter up sometime in 2 weeks. Until then, please enjoy and leave a review to let me know what you think!**


	3. Chapter 3

**C03**

"...wait what? What the heck is Code Black?"

Naminé disregards Hayner's ignorant questions, focusing on Kain. He maintains his usual impassive expression, but she notes his brows furrow just a bit further.

"Update me," he says as he takes Hayner's seat.

"Yessir. Team Giraffe was sent to the field to conduct surveillance of an area just west of town, where Heartless had previously infiltrated after penetrating our border defense. Hayner is our lead operator for this mission, and I'm supervising. Approximately 26 minutes ago, our operators first noticed a flashing dot on our radar monitor. Upon further analysis, we concluded it was neither a human, animal, nor Heartless. Tech reported the radar is functioning, and given Team Giraffe's comment from just now that - _just_ now..."

"That what?" Kain prompts.

Naminé's mind pauses for a split second before she turns away from Kain, facing the front of the room. Rushing towards the nearest stationary mic, she clears her throat and speaks.

"Giraffe, are you still there?" she exclaims. The longest moment of silence stretches on, and Naminé starts considering worst case scenarios.

"...yeah, what's up?" someone finally responds, to which Naminé sighs. Gathering her thoughts, she speaks again.

"You said that you _saw_ one of the gray things just now?"

"Err, yeah, I did. But it kinda just...whizzed around the corner of the building. Should we go after it - "

"No!" Naminé exclaims urgently. She reminds herself to try not to alarm the field agents anymore. Her fingers dig into her palm, piercing so hard that she almost draws blood. This is what she's trained for.

Naminé can sense all the attention on her. She feels a familiar sensation of a balloon slowly inflating in her chest, squeezing out her lungs. Her eyes furtively dart around, her palms grow clammy, and she blinks furiously as if she's about to wake up from this nightmare. Unable to contain the restless energy, she starts pacing around the room.

"Naminé, you have to tell me what's going on," Kain insists. "I have to make a final call about Code Black."

"Y - yeah," she stammers, counting her quick shallow breaths and trying to quell the rising panic. _Whatever you feel is only amplified in the team out there_ , she reminds herself. "We need to get the team out ASAP. Hayner, give me your headset."

Just as Hayner's handing over the equipment, Kain stops him with a hand on his arm. Both students look towards their instructor curiously.

"Naminé, I can call a Code Black and tell Cecil. But are you going to be the lead operator for this mission?"

She looks at Kain and meets his stern gaze. Taking a step back, she considers the implications of his words.

 _Are you up to the task?_

"I've been supervising this entire mission," Naminé defends herself. "I did my homework, and I'm familiar with the lay of the land. I...I should be lead operator."

"So, you will?"

Naminé hesitates again. On second thought, it doesn't sound like he's challenging her capability. What's he getting at?

"...yessir," she responds curtly, giving up on reading between the lines. Surely if it were important, Kain would just tell her. "We need to get the team out of there."

Kain nods, heading towards the landline phone to contact their director. Naminé grabs the headset from Hayner and fixes it in place. "Team Giraffe, can you hear me? Repeat, can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear, ma'am. Uh, who is this again?"

"Naminé. I'm supervising your lead operator - Hayner - and this mission, but given recent circumstances...we had to call a Code Black," Naminé begins.

"What the hell is she talking about?" the female field agent exclaims. "They didn't teach us about no Code Black!"

"Code Black is used when there is a potentially volatile situation with insufficient information at hand," Naminé recites, feeling somewhat comforted by the ease at which she recalls the definition. "Those gray things you mentinoed...we've only had a few sitings in the last three months, and to my understanding, we still don't have a good grasp of their nature. They're at times hostile and at times neutral, of different caliber than the Heartless, and notably intelligent. They have the capability to dodge and evade our attacks, and so far, there is no sound method of defeating them. Not even with Keyblades."

"Uh, did that lady basically just say we're screwed?" one of the field agents asks worriedly.

"Shaddup, Byrn. I ain't dying out here - we still needa go home."

"No one is gonna die," Naminé says resolutely. "I told you everything we know so you'd be prepared. Standard protocol for Code Black is to avoid engagement with any hostile elements and secure the team's retreat. That is the one and only objective of the mission now."

"So, no more surveying?" the team leader - Aaron, if Naminé recalls - asks.

"Correct. Now, our main problem is that the radar is kinda glitchy and lags at picking up these gray things. Stay concealed of course, but does anyone see any of them right now?"

Naminé holds her breath as she looks at Team Giraffe on the radar monitor, huddled behind an abandoned building. A sharp intake of air later, a low voice responds.

"Y -yeah, they're here alright. Two of 'em, in fact, right in front of us. They look all twisty and bendy, real scary shit y'know - "

"Just tell her what she needs, Byrn, and then stop blabbering!"

"Stop telling me what to do, Leanne, if you're just gonna cower in a corner!"

"I'm not a coward!"

"I said 'cowering,' you - you know what? You coward!"

Naminé sighs helplessly. It's been awhile since she's led a team of rookies. Spats and arguments are to be expected within any team, but that's exactly why they should have an elected leader.

"Both of you, keep quiet if you don't want those things hearing us." Aaron speaks with a stern voice, softly but surely. Surprisingly, the duo quickly ends their conversation, and Aaron continues, "What's the plan, ma'am?"

"...okay, in front you said?" Naminé stares at the radar monitor, and then a map of the area. "Okay. So we have two confirmed in the east - that's likely this." She points at the pair of flashing dots in the general direction of where Team Giraffe had indicated. "And that means...shit."

"What's goin' on?" the female field agent snaps.

"...I think we have a few more blocking your return," Naminé explains slowly, hoping the panic isn't palpable in her voice. "Hayner, pull up the return route on the map."

With a few hasty clicks, Hayner has the return route plotted in red on the map. Naminé studies it carefully, noting the geographical features nearby. "Okay. You can proceed on the return route. Remember the lake you passed by on your way out?"

"Lake? Not sure how's your vision, but pretty sure that was barely a creek," the female agent comments.

Naminé figures that given the situation, she has the right to sound testy. "Head around it instead of passing by. You should be able to completely avoid the things blocking your return route."

"'Should'?" the low gruff voice of the other male agent repeats. "We need ya to do better than 'should.'"

"It's not like she can control them," Aaron points out. "C'mon, we gotta trust the operators. Let's hurry."

And with that, Team Giraffe's end goes dead. Naminé falls quiet too. Now, all she can do is monitor the situation and wait it out.

On the screen, dots representing the three agents of Team Giraffe proceed along the route as planned. Meanwhile, Naminé's eyes keep flickering towards the flashing dots representing the grey things, as her anxiety slowly mounts.

"...they're almost there," Hayner comments. Indeed, Team Giraffe has almost reached the city border, inside which their defense system should provide adequate cover. Naminé forces herself to stay on alert, because experience has taught her that until the very last second -

"...shit!"

"What? What is it?" Naminé exclaims. "Who said that? What's going on?"

"We're stuck!" the male agent exclaims. "There's the ones you told us about, right between us 'n the border. We've ducked behind a hill for now!"

"Pull up the topographic map," Naminé exclaims as one of the operators works the controls.

"There's also a group of them following us," Aaron reports. "I think...we're trapped."

"What the hell happened to 'completely avoid,' huh?" the female agent hisses.

Dread runs through every nerve in Naminé. Is this just bad luck, or...did the things actually _plan_ this flank? Reports had indicated the gray things exhibiting a higher level of self-awareness than Heartless, who are mostly like mindless bugs operating independently. But she hadn't thought that meant this new enemy would have coordinated attacks and formations. How are they supposed to get around something intelligent _and_ undefeatable?

"What do we do? Naminé?"

"Hello? Say something, woman!"

"My god, this cannot be happening…"

The wayward voices of Team Giraffe distract Naminé, and she knows she can't afford to waste another second. She tries blocking out the noise, knowing she can't provide reassurance and strategize at the same time.

"How many of them are there in front of you guys?" Hayner asks, speaking into a free mic.

"Just three!" the female agent exclaims. "Dammit, if they were Heartless, we could just kill our way through!"

"Yeah, you do that, Leanne. You'll get torn into shreds."

"Great to know you've got my back, Byrn. If you're not gonna be useful, then shut the fuck up."

"Well, what about the second pack coming after you?" Hayner interrupts. "Can you see 'em?"

"No, they're not in sight," Aaron reports. "Maybe we shook them off?"

"Though the radar says they're heading in your general direction, I doubt they know where you are specifically…"

Hayner and Team Giraffe's conversation serves as adequate white noise while Naminé thinks. _Enemy blocking the way. Said enemy can move, movements unpredictable. Radar spotty at best. Protocol is to avoid enemy at all costs. Enemy intercepted alternate route, and time running out with reinforcements incoming. In conclusion…_

"You need to engage the enemy," Naminé says aloud.

"Wait, you said protocol is to avoid engagement," Aaron points out.

"I know, but you guys are close enough and there's no cover in your area. They'll likely spot you before you get to another route."

"Well, what's your plan for fighting an invincible enemy?" the female agent asks.

"You don't need to defeat them, just incapacitate them," Naminé points out. "We'll use their strategy: a flank. First, a bait will get their attention, so the others can ambush them from behind - "

"No, no," Aaron speaks up, sounding assertive for the first time. "We are not splitting up in a situation like this."

"We don't have time for an open discussion!" Naminé exclaims. "Unless you have a plan right now, you need to trust me."

She gives the team a good three seconds to speak up. When no one does, she takes their silence as consent to listen to her.

"One person will backtrack a bit and lure them over from across the water. They shouldn't be able to cross the lake, so they'll come around the waterfront. Two of you remain behind the hill, and once they've passed, attack them from behind."

"Just a normal attack?" Aaron asks. "Will that work on them?"

"They are sentient beings. We have reports that they do suffer injuries. It's just their pain response can be erratic."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning...whoever's bait needs to have quick reflexes."

"Okay, then I'll do it," Aaron says, volunteering himself. "Let's do this," he exclaims, likely more to himself than anyone else.

"Aaron - " the female agent begins but then cuts herself off.

Naminé inhales sharply through her nose, feeling her heart racing as she tries to remain calm. Just another mission, just another team…

 _Just three people I have to bring back home._

"Wait, what's that? Watch out - AARON!"

* * *

 _Location: Training Room 2, HBRC_  
 _Time: November 19th, 4:17 PM_

"Look out! Got your six."

Sora ducks to narrowly dodge a haphazard Fira aimed his way. Taking a moment to catch his breath, he senses a familiar presence behind him.

"You okay?" he asks, supporting Kairi's petite frame as she leans on him.

"Y - yeah. A little tired," she confesses. Exhaling deeply, she swings her Keyblade in front of her a few times and gives a loud grunt. "Let's do this!"

He smirks at the usual spitfire in her voice. "Let's go! Those two are so going down!"

"Seriously? You guys look like you're done for."

Sora smirks, raising his Keyblade to meet Tidus' attack head-on. The two weapons clash, and both lean in to push with their weight. "That's all you got?" Sora exclaims, deflecting Tidus' Keyblade and quickly doubling back.

Tidus smirks, flexing his fingers. "That's cause you can't handle more."

"Fucking try me."

Tidus points his Keyblade at Sora. "You said it. Wakka!"

"You got it, brudda!"

Sora watches amusedly as Wakka gives Tidus a boost into the air. The fluorescent bulbs overhead momentarily blind him, and belatedly he wonders if that's part of their strategy. Straining to see clearly, he hastily retreats a few steps, forgetting about Kairi until he bumps into her.

"...moron," he hears her mumble. A hand rests on his arm and gently pushes him aside. While going along with the force of momentum, he also thinks to drop to the ground and minimize his exposed weaknesses.

When the white in his vision goes away, he looks up to see what's happened. To his surprise, Tidus is sprawled on the floor, struggling to rise to his feet. Wakka's got a hand on his stomach, laughing his guts out. And Kairi…

Kairi's glaring at him?

"Ohmigawd, Tidus, this is like an all-time low for us, ya?" Wakka stammers out between laughs. "She owned you!"

Tidus grits his teeth and glares. "Shut up, Wakka, you tossed me up too high!"

"Your own fault for showing off while in air, brudda!"

"What? Why, you - "

Sora laughs as the two teammates digress into their own debate. He assumes the mock fight is over, at least for now. It takes him another moment to notice Kairi hovering over him. Looking up, he returns her frown with a likewise expression. "What's up?" When she doesn't respond, he jumps to his feet and watches her closely. "Huh? What's wrong? Kairi?"

After an extended staring contest, Kairi finally averts her gaze and sighs. "Nothing. Ignore me," she says dismissively, heading towards the exit of the training room.

Enough is enough - she's been acting strange for awhile, and maybe it's time to just ask her about it. Sora chases after her, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, Kairi, is something - "

He doesn't get the chance to finish his words, because Kairi abruptly flings his hand away when he makes contact. Pausing, he stares at his hand confusedly. Had he somehow hurt her? What's going on?

He looks at Kairi and notes her shaky smile. "Sorry, I don't - I'm sorry, Sora."

"...no, it's okay," he says lamely. He then reconsiders his statement. "Wait, no, that's not right. You don't have to say sorry - you didn't do anything wrong. Is it...did I screw up? You know I'm an idiot, Kairi, so you just gotta tell me."

He smiles at little when Kairi laughs. "No, that's not it." After a moment of deliberation, she grins at him. "I just have a lot on my mind. Sorry for taking it out on you."

"Not at all," Sora insists. "But you know, you can talk to me. We're teammates - we're friends, Kairi."

Her expression hardens a little at the use of that label. "Right, _friends_ …" he hears her mumble. She nods at him. "I'll talk to you later, Sora."

Watching her leave, Sora still feels a little unsure with the resolution (or lack thereof) of their conversation. Just as he's about to grab his stuff and follow after her, two people ambush him.

"Wha -!"

"Gotcha!" Tidus exclaims as he and Wakka hold him down from behind. "You wuss! Hiding behind a girl and letting her do all the work!"

"Ahh - what, wait, that's not what I - DUDE YOU KNOW I'M HELLA TI -TICKLISH! AHAHAHAHA!"

He has no control over his laughs and flailing limbs as Tidus and Wakka poke him everywhere around the stomach. The three boys are a mess on the floor, rolling about for minutes.

"Okay, let's cut him some slack," Tidus proposes.

"Let - lemme just breathe - " Sora inhales deeply, trying to sit up straight. After settling down, he glares at the two people in front of him.

"Seriously guys? You almost suffocated me!"

"That's cause you're weak," Tidus jokes.

"And you made Kairi cry, ya?" Wakka adds with a frown.

"I'm not weak - hey, wait a sec. I didn't make her cry! She wasn't crying!"

"Sure looked like she was 'bout to," Wakka comments with narrowed eyes. "Whatcha do to her, huh?"

"Seriously? You're not even gonna ask for my side of the story?"

Tidus and Wakka glance at each other quickly. "With you two? I'd say it's your fault 99% of the time," Tidus points out.

Sora sighs but concedes to Tidus' point. "Okay, fine. But this time, I swear I didn't do anything. At least, not intentionally. Not that I know of." He tries to recall Kairi's last words. "Agh, I don't know! I probably just have to wait till she tells me, huh?"

"That's where you're wrong, brudda." Sora perks up at Wakka's words. "Girls hate it when they have to tell us stuff, ya? They want us to figure it out for ourselves."

"What? How do you know?"

"Believe it, he knows." Sora pauses to consider Tidus' knowing tone. He then quickly gives all his attention to Wakka.

"Okay, brudda, here's what'cha gotta do…"

* * *

 _Location: 1st floor gym, HBRC_  
 _Time: November 20th, 8:03 AM_

"I still can't believe I'm up this early. Even before Riku," Sora mumbles, taking a long sip of his coffee - "Oww!"

"Don't be so loud, you're gonna give away our positions!" Tidus hisses.

"If anything, your disguise is giving us away. Who wears a fedora in the gym?"

While crouched by the water fountain area, Sora gives Tidus another lookover. While the all-black clothing isn't too out of place, the hat, sunglasses, and combat boots really stand out.

"What do you know? I told you to disguise yourself but you're literally wearing what you usually wear!"

"That's cause what I usually wear blends in perfectly at the gym!" Sora gestures at his simple hoodie and shorts combo. "Can't we just ask her already? We've been hovering for like the past ten minutes - "

"I'm here, bruddas!" Wakka exclaims, dashing towards them with a cup of hot coffee in hand. Sora gives him a second look.

"Seriously? Wakka, that's a really bad disguise," Tidus points out.

"My outfit's bomb! Don't I look like just another HBRC recruit?"

"Uh, yeah, cause your shirt literally says 'HBRC Trainee.'"

"And no one actually wears the free shirts they give us," Sora finishes. "Also, what's up with the coffee? If you had time to get that, you shouldn't be late."

"Coffee? Oh no, young Sora, you are mistaken," Wakka says very seriously with wide eyes. "This isn't just coffee, ya? This is holy sustenance we provide to appease our temperamental goddess specifically at this hour of the day."

"What?"

"Believe me," Tidus says, "we need it. It was worth waiting the 10 minutes for Wakka. Alright, boys! Are you ready?"

"Yessir!"

"Hell yeah! ...uh, for what? Aren't we just gonna talk to her?" Sora asks again.

"Young, naive Sora," Tidus says with a condescending grin. "You still have much to learn."

"And you still need someone to shove a stick up your - "

"She's coming!" Wakka exclaims, cutting off their conversation.

Dimly, Sora wonders why this fuss is necessary. Tidus and Wakka had seemed eager, so he'd just gone along with it. But wearing disguises, purchasing coffee slash 'holy sustenance,' and timing their encounter just to talk to her -

"Boys," she greets with a smile, raising one hand to wipe away the sweat by her forehead. Sora's surprised she's so diligent, working out at this hour in the morning. Despite her apparent fatigue, her eyes slowly rove over each of them one by one, until they settle on… "And Sora. I wonder what you're doing here?" Though it's phrased as a question, her words sound like anything but.

"Hey Selphie," he greets, deciding to forego Tidus' prepared script. He'd rather just cut to the chase. "Can you tell me what's up with Kai - ayy, what're you - !"

Tidus hastily slaps a hand over his mouth and drags him back a few steps. "Sorry about that, Selphie. C'mon, Wakka!"

"Yessir! Here you go, Selphie," he says, holding out the coffee cup. "One extra hot tall soy latte, with an extra shot and cream, plus half a packet of sugar. Did...did I get that right?"

"Hmm." Selphie accepts the cup graciously, uncapping it and catching a whiff. "Don't tell me...Neku wasn't there?"

"Eek! How did you know?"

Selphie sighs. "The latte art's just a heart. Neku can do better than that. Ah well, I guess you can't help that my favorite barista wasn't present." She takes a long sip of her drink, and it feels like they're all waiting for her verdict. "Alright, boys. I'm appropriately caffeinated for 8 AM in the morning. What is it?"

"We have a question," Tidus begins but quickly backtracks. "Actually, Sora has a question. Right, Sora?"

Sora responds to the not-so-subtle nudge in his ribs - that hurts, Tidus. "Oh. Yeah. What's up with Kairi?"

"Sora! Didn't I tell you to be specific?" Tidus hisses.

"What Tidus said," Selphie says, tilting her head in his direction. Her omnipresent smile is starting to get on Sora's nerves - it's like she knows something that he doesn't. Which is likely true.

He racks his brain for something specific to ask. The problem is, without any context of the situation, he doesn't know where to start. He isn't sure exactly when Kairi started acting strange, or even what's so 'strange' about her behavior. All he has is his gut feeling: something is off, and he's concerned.

"Just - is Kairi okay?"

Selphie pauses for a moment and looks at him incredulously. "Huh. Good question, actually."

"Selphie doesn't have an answer?!" Wakka exclaims.

"Hush, I didn't say that," she snaps and sends him a sharp glare. Wakka instantly freezes, forcibly grinning as he inches back a few steps. "Where was I?" Selphie muses aloud. "Ah, right. You asked if Kairi's okay." Sora nods, waiting patiently for his answer. Selphie remains pensively quiet for quite some time, but finally, she speaks.

"She'll be okay."

"So she's not okay now?" Sora instantly keys in on Selphie's specific word choice.

"She's...got some things to figure out."

"Well, how can I help?"

"Honestly? There isn't much you can do. In fact, you might just make things worse."

Selphie's non-response isn't very useful. How can he just stand by while Kairi's going through something obviously very distressing?

"Sorry I can't help much. I'm meeting someone in a bit, so I have to go. And boys: make sure you're on time to training today at 11 AM sharp. Our team really can't rack up any more tardies. _Or else_ \- "

"Yes ma'am!" Tidus and Wakka quickly exclaim.

Sora's still watching Selphie's back figure as she walks away from them. Her words float around in his mind: 'she'll be okay,' 'got some things to figure out,' 'you might just make things worse'...

"AGH!" he exclaims, clutching his head with his hands. "What the hell is going on?"

"Actually though, ya?" Wakka rests a hand on his shoulder. "This is pretty serious if Selphie can't even help."

"You guys said she knows everything about everyone in HBRC!"

"She does!" Tidus insists. "I don't know how, but homegirl's got ears everywhere! I mean, it sounded like she knows something about Kairi but can't tell you."

"Why not?" Sora complains. "I'm literally going crazy trying to figure things out. People should know that I'm not that smart! Kairi and Riku are the ones who...shit, that's right! How could I forget?"

Without another word, Sora dashes off, leaving Tidus and Wakka in his dust. He's running out of options at this point, but this lead's his best yet. If this doesn't pan out...a confrontation might be next on the table.

Cause one thing he knows for sure, regardless of what other people say: the worst thing he can do is to do nothing.

* * *

 **A/N: I tried really hard to post on-time (by the end of Saturday PST), but I'm sorry this is one day late. I'm really hoping I can do a super regular update schedule this time round.**

 **So. More stuff happens! As you may have noticed, there's a balance of more plot stuff and more character-oriented scenes. The contrast is also really distinct - these are two very different worlds I'm trying to craft. Also, you can ignore the random OC's of Team Giraffe - I just didn't want to waste canon characters on those roles.**

 **Anyways, I'm enjoying myself, and hopefully you are too! As always, I would love to know what you think about the characters / plot / worlds in a review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**C04**

 _Location: Principal's office, DiZA  
Time: November 20th, 9:04 AM_

With all her remaining strength, Naminé fights the temptation to shut her eyelids close.

She chooses to stay seated and quiet as the adults in the room continue their long discussion. It's been an hour already, and considering last night she didn't sleep till 2 AM, it's a wonder she's awake. Only the fear of embarrassment if she _does_ doze off before the principal is driving her willpower right now.

"Nonetheless, we can't ignore the fact that this was a blatant disregard of protocol. She's a level 3 operator - she shouldn't be leading Code Black missions."

Naminé feels herself grow incredibly small at Cecil's words. The white-haired man is usually nonconfrontational and soft-spoken, from her few encounters with him throughout her years at DiZA. As director of external affairs, he is known to be incredibly fair - perhaps a bit too by the book in this case.

"We had a team out there that someone had to be responsible for. It was either Naminé or the level 2 operator in charge."

"You could've stepped in, Kain. You should've," Cecil points out.

"I had zero knowledge of the context or background of the mission at hand. It made more sense for Naminé to take charge. Also, I don't understand why this is such a big deal. The mission ended largely successfully."

"Depends on how you define 'largely successfully,' I suppose," Cecil points out. "Two of the three field agents are still in the hospital, and one's in ICU."

"She's no longer in any life-threatening danger."

"We're supposed to be content with the fact that she's just healing from a massive wound and only almost bled out?"

Cecil's harsh words silence whatever else Kain had to say. Naminé feels every nerve in her body tense up. She knows he's right, that it'd been a very close call. It was only by sheer luck and ingenuity on the team's part that their leader had survived that ambush by those additional undetected gray things. In turn, the other two field agents suffered massive injuries and the girl had come close to dying.

 _One of them almost didn't make it home._

The guilt continues overwhelming her, taunting her with the possibility that that girl's going into septic shock at the hospital right now -

"Naminé?"

The young operator lifts her head, staring at Principal Wise. The seriousness of the situation had been weighing on her since she'd stepped into his office, but it all sort of collapses now.

"Y - yes?"

Principal Wise opens his mouth to say something but then sighs, instead passing her a box of tissues. Confusedly, she receives it and only then realizes that she had let a tear escape. Hastily wiping her cheeks, she feels the embarrassment claw at her insides, jeering at such childish behavior, so unbecoming of a level 3 lead operator of DiZA.

"Naminé, are you okay?"

Principal Wise's voice is unexpectedly soft, so much that Naminé feels like crying more. But with not just one by 3 pairs of eyes on her, her self-consciousness reins in the additional waterworks.

"I'm fine," she says as surely as she can, taking care to make sure her voice isn't shaky. "Fine," she repeats for good measure.

Principal Wise draws a deep breath. "Okay. Well, then, I think I've heard enough from bystanders. What do you think, Naminé?"

"...me?" Naminé repeats confusedly.

"You," Principal Wise confirms. "How do you feel about the mission yesterday?"

She isn't prepared to actually _think_ after such a grueling, high-stakes mission while she's running on 4 hours of sleep. Her mind spins, and it takes her a moment to reorient herself. She's in Principal Wise's office, and she's supposed to give a report about the mission that'd happened a few nights ago.

 _Focus, Naminé. Focus._

She repeats that mantra in her mind as her lungs feel like they're shrinking again, and her breaths grow shallow, and she rises to her feet to pace back and forth in the room just to have something to do.

"I think...I handled the mission as well as I could," she begins tentatively. "Given the circumstances, we didn't have many options. Despite being inexperienced and technically not allowed to operate under Code Black, I decided to be lead operator because time was our limiting factor and we didn't have the luxury of bringing another qualified operator up to speed. Of course, the injuries we suffered are far from ideal. But the field agents had acted not just by themselves; more importantly, they did exactly what I would've told them to do if I had the time. By taking the brunt of the blow, I believe those two field agents were able to save their team leader's life. Nothing could be more valuable than that."

"There's no need to be so defensive," Principal Wise says with a chuckle. "I'm not accusing you of doing anything wrong here."

Naminé glances at Cecil quickly before reverting her gaze. "Right," she mumbles under her breath. "I was just telling you what I thought."

"Okay," Principal Wise says with a nod. "Here's what we'll do. Naminé will write up an incident report for both Cecil and Kain to review. Cecil and Kain, please conduct an audit of Naminé recent mission writeups. If there's nothing out of the ordinary, which I suspect will be the case, we can let her off the hook with a warning and two weeks' probation."

The thought of any sort of punishment frightens Naminé, who's always been proud of her pristine academic record. Now, she'll have a tarnish that she has to explain to people…

"I don't understand," Kain speaks up. "She did exactly what she was supposed to do in that situation. If you were there, Cecil, you would've done the same thing."

Cecil huffs. "No one is doubting her capability. In fact, based on what I know, she's obviously a level above her peers - perhaps even qualified to be a level 4 operator. But we have to follow the rules, or what's the point of having them?"

"It sounds to me you're looking for an easy scapegoat to explain things to the school board," Kain snipes.

"Enough," Principal Wise interrupts. "Like Cecil said, there are rules in place for a reason. If students see they can just ignore the rules without any consequences, then we'll have a bigger issue at hand. And technically, Naminé did do wrong." Principal Wise rests his stern gaze on Naminé, as if challenging her to say otherwise. "Politics aside, this is a school, and its students are my responsibility. I can't have them thinking it's okay to break the rules that are in place to protect them. You," Principal Wise fixes his gaze on her again, "are very, very lucky. If things hadn't gone relatively smoothly, your punishment wouldn't be just nominal."

"...yessir," Naminé stammers, feeling herself grow lightheaded either from the stern reproach, the lack of sleep, or maybe both.

"Okay. I have another meeting in 5 minutes, so let's wrap things up. We'll go with the plan, and let me know if anything comes up. Sound good?"

"Yessir," the three chorus together in response. Naminé waits for Cecil and Kain to step out of the room before moving to follow them. A nagging thought in the back of her mind prompts her to speak before leaving.

"Sir."

"Yes?" Principal Wise briefly glances up from the papers he's organizing on his desk.

"If you were me...what would you have done?"

Principal Wise halts his actions and slowly lifts his head. A grim smile stretches across his face.

"Is there a point to this question?"

Naminé hastily shakes her head. "No! Well, I mean, nothing beyond face value. I'm just trying to learn."

"...honestly, it's impossible to predict what one might do in a situation unless one is actually in it. But hypothetically, I suppose I would've followed the rules, found a qualified lead operator, brought him or her up to speed, and let him or her take over."

"Even if that means the team out in the field may have suffered additional injuries, possibly even fatalities, by that point?"

"That is always a possibility for teams who go out in the field, and no more so in this particular situation."

"Really?"

"...not significantly more so," Principal Wise amends. "I thought you said you were simply trying to learn. Is this leading somewhere, or have I satisfied your curiosity?"

"Right." Naminé hastily bows before turning around and stepping out of his office.

Her mind is racing with thoughts so loudly that she actually isn't paying much attention to her surroundings. Thankfully, at this hour in the morning, not much people are out and about. She heads out of the school building and reaches home after a brisk 15-minute walk. She is back to safety, back to warmth and a comfortable respite from any more intrusions -

 _"Naminé!"_

Her father's loud voice pierces through the still morning air of their apartment. "I woke up 30 minutes ago and just found out what happened. Is everything okay? Are you alright? What did Ansem say?"

Naminé sighs, mostly because she doesn't want to deal with his incessant questioning now. "I'm fine, Dad. Principal Wise was just checking in. I know you probably got back late last night, so just go back to sleep."

"Not when your capability is in question! Do you need me to talk to them for you? I keep in touch with some people in the OATS department, I'm sure I could get them to speak on your behalf - "

"Dad! No!" Naminé exclaims, thoroughly embarrassed by the thought of her dad intervening. She's 18, for god's sake! She doesn't need her dad still doing everything for her! "Just - go to sleep, Dad. I'll figure things out."

"But Naminé - "

" _I don't want to talk about it,"_ she deadpans, throwing in a glare. She attributes most of her grouchiness to lack of sleep. But part of her is reeling with the thought that she isn't good enough, _I'm not good enough, Dad thinks I'm not good enough, I can't be not good enough at the only thing I'm supposed to be good at -_

Before her dad can say anything, she grabs a bottle of water from the fridge and retreats to her bedroom, shutting the door behind her. Taking a sip of water, she then sinks to the ground and closes her eyes, sighing tiredly.

What a day. And it's only Tuesday. She has no idea how she's gonna get through the rest of the week -

 _Beep beep, beep beep..._

Naminé rolls over and reaches for her phone to turn off the alarm. Through bleary eyes, she notes she has an hour to get ready for class. Despite the fatigue weighing down every inch of her body, she somehow summons the strength to pull herself up into an upright position.

She can do this. She has to do this.

As if on cue, her stomach grumbles in what she can only hope is consent.

Well, it makes sense to grab something to eat first before she faces the rest of her day.

* * *

 _Location: 20 Carnation Street  
Time: November 20th, 3:47 PM_

"RIKU!"

"Fuck, Sora - can't you _knock_?"

"What're you doing, watching porn?" Sora rolls his eyes as he unceremoniously enters his housemate's room. He can't help but notice the orderly state of things in Riku's room, especially compared to his own.

"Haha, very funny," Riku states dryly. "I was just about to take a nap, and now I obviously can't."

"You're welcome. Gotta be alert for training in a bit!"

"Which is exactly why I wanted to take a nap...I've had a long day, man - "

"I know," Sora speaks up, to which Riku raises a curious brow. "You met with Squall to discuss individual training sessions this morning. Then you had to supervise a team-building exercise with the new class of recruits. The gym janitor lady saw you working out through lunchtime, and then you were doing some paperwork in the library. Correct?"

"...dude, that's creepy. Are you stalking me or something?"

"I am!" Sora responds but then backtracks on his words. "Well, I mean, just today. Dude, I've been trying to track you down since 8 AM this morning! But you were constantly on the go! Everytime I think I've got you, someone tells me you're onto your next task of the day!"

"Yeah, which is why when you texted earlier, I texted back saying if it's nothing important, we can talk about it after training."

"But we can't!" Sora exclaims. "Cause then... _Kairi will be there!"_

Riku pauses to regard Sora curiously. He sighs tiredly and sits up properly on his bed. "What exactly did you wanna talk about?"

"Okay man." Sora grabs Riku's swivel chair and makes himself comfortable. "You know what's up with her, don't you?"

"What?"

"Kairi. She's been acting kinda weird recently, hasn't she?"

"...I'm surprised you noticed," Riku drawls.

"I knew it! And I knew you knew, cause you and Kairi are the smart ones while I'm - wait, what do you mean by that?"

"Nothing. Anyways, are you finally gonna do something about it?"

"About what?"

"About - " Riku abruptly cuts himself off and looks at Sora curiously. "Wait a sec. You have no idea what's going on."

"And you do!" Sora exclaims perceptively. "C'mon, what's up? Selphie wouldn't tell me, obviously Kairi won't, and now you're being weird about it. I wanna do something, but I can't if I don't know what I'm supposed to do."

Riku groans aloud. "Sora, I can't - I mean, it's not my place to tell, okay? It's Kairi's secret - "

"She has a secret that she's keeping from me?" Sora exclaims. "Why?"

"I can't - "

"I don't get it! We tell each other everything, don't we? I mean, I know I do."

"This isn't about - "

"And why would she keep it from me and not you? This makes no sense - "

" _Cause it involves you!_ "

"...what?"

Riku stares at Sora, wide-eyed. "Shit. I shouldn't have said that."

"No, wait! What does that mean?" Sora leaps off his seat and eagerly leans towards Riku, bursting his personal bubble. Riku shakes his head and jumps to his feet to escape encroachment. "Riku!"

"Go away."

"RIKU!"

"I said, go away! Seriously, Kairi's gonna kill me…"

"C'mon! You know what my mom used to say. 'If at first you don't succeed - '"

"' - try, try again cause you'll eventually annoy them to death.' Right, I remember," Riku finishes dryly. "You could probably annoy anyone to death, but that's not gonna happen with me anytime soon."

" _Riku!"_

"Oh god, are you pouting right now?"

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Sora breaks out the puppy dog eyes that always worked like a charm on his mom.

"I'm not your girlfriend, or your mom." Riku grabs his stuff on his desk. "Let's go, Kairi's gonna maul our ass if we're late again."

"...you guys all suck!" Sora declares, following Riku out of the room. He grabs his exercise bag quickly and heads out after his friend. "You know, at this rate, I'm just gonna ask her about it. And if this blows up in my face and she gets mad at me, it'll be on you."

"What? It's all your fault anyways."

"Well, you could've helped me fix things, but instead you're being weird and dodgy. So, also your fault now."

"What? That doesn't make sense."

"So does! You're an accomplice now! Along with Tidus, Wakka, even Selphie for being super unhelpful today - "

"What're you all up to?"

Sora and Riku freeze in their steps. Turning towards their side, they notice the red-haired girl watching them curiously. Sora does a mental double take and runs his words through his mind, wondering how much she had overheard.

"Oh, Kairi!" Sora squeaks as she approaches with narrowed eyes and crossed arms. "What're you doing here?"

"Heading to training with you guys," she points out logically. "I heard you talking about a bunch of people just now: Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie...what's up?"

Sora tries to convince himself that she sounds more curious than anything...or maybe that's what she's trying to sound like, but actually it's a test and she knows everything already! That must be it, and she's giving him a chance to come clean before she beats his ass for hiding stuff from her -

Wait. She's the one hiding something from him! Why does he feel like the guilty party here?

"Kairi." He clears his throat, trying to figure out how to phrase his words properly. "I was thinking…"

"For once," Kairi teases with a grin.

"Hey!" he protests. "What's that mean?"

"Exactly what you think it means," Riku says, swinging an arm around Sora's neck. "Cause you sure _aren't_ thinking now, are you?"

Sora does a double take at Riku's pointed glare. Taking his friend's wide eyes to mean something along the lines of: 'don't do what I think you're about to do,' Sora takes the nonverbal cue and summons a smile.

"...so, what were you thinking?" Kairi prompts.

"Nothing!"

"..."

"..."

"...okay...you know we can always tell when you're lying, Sora," Kairi points out while heading into the training room. He and Riku follow suit, Riku hissing to him under his breath.

"We'll talk about this later," is all he says before they catch up to Kairi, who's doing stretches. Sora huffs and decides to leave his thoughts behind to catch up to doing stretches with the rest of his team.

"What're we practicing today?" Sora asks once they're done with their warmup. "Can we not do the sim room?"

"It's the best thing we got to the real thing," Kairi points out. "Since the real thing very rarely shows up."

"We just did matchup with Tidus and Wakka," Sora recalls.

"How about," Riku proposes, "some matchup between us?"

"Us three?" Kairi echoes. A smile gradually surfaces on her face. "Sure, I'm down."

"Wait, isn't the point of training today to practice teamwork?"

"What better way to understand each other than by figuring out each other's weaknesses?" Riku summons his Keyblade, which appears in his hand on cue. He smirks and points it at Sora. "You up for it?"

A familiar surge of competitiveness rushes through him. Raising a hand, Sora summons his Keyblade as well. "Definit - "

"Wait," Kairi interrupts, using her Keyblade to knock Riku's aside and point at Sora. "I wanna go against Sora."

"...sure!" Sora says, always down for a challenge from whoever. They take their places on opposite sides of the room, while Riku slumps down to sit on the ground and watch them. Sora gets a rush of excitement at the thought of besting Kairi - okay, he knows he's a little too competitive for his own good sometimes, but nothing wrong with wanting to win, right?

"You ready?" he hollers out.

"Ready to beat you, yeah," Kairi smirks with confidence.

Nothing like a good taunt to get him going. Sora tightens his grip on his Keyblade and lowers his stance, trying to focus on his steady breathing.

Kairi comes at him with a running start. A battle cry escapes her lips as she raises her Keyblade up and brings it down at him. Sora easily deflects her attack with his own weapon and deftly steps towards the side. He goes for an easy swing at her side that Kairi blocks with her Keyblade and then he aims for her legs with a kick. As she jumps back, he focuses on the magical energy brewing at his fingertips.

"Fire!" he calls out, the wispy flames flying from his Keyblade towards Kairi. She raises her arms just in time to defend herself from the brunt of the attack, but her sleeves end up catching fire.

"We're doing magic too?" Kairi exclaims, patting at her clothes to put out the flames.

"No one said we weren't!" Sora points out with a grin. He knows he's picking a tougher fight, especially when he sees Kairi smile reassuredly. Kairi's the residential magic expert on their team, not just in terms of depth and breadth of spells but also how fine-tuned her skill is. She can use just the right amount of magic and send it on the exact path -

"Thundara!"

Sora curses silently while picking up his pace and dashing across the room. The moment his foot leaves the floor, he senses the thunderbolt striking where he was just standing. Kairi's apt at wielding multiple spells consecutively, so he forces himself to keep moving about. So engrossed in his footwork, he doesn't realize Kairi's standing right in front of him before he looks up and it's too late.

Sora gulps, instinctively raising his Keyblade in time to meet her downward swing head-on. He sees her overconfident smirk as she presses down with all her weight, determined to crush him.

"Kairi, you can do it!" Riku hollers from the side. "Sora can barely benchpress your weight!"

"Hey! What's that mean?" Sora squawks.

"I also resent that comment!" Kairi exclaims.

"I so can benchpress Kairi! I'll show you later, Riku!" he says distractedly, eyes glancing towards his teammate on the side and then quickly returning to Kairi. With the twinkle in her eye and determination written across her face, she looks like she doesn't have anything to hide from him. In fact, on the battlefield in the midst of fighting, Sora's always thought that's when Kairi looks most like herself, looks most alive.

He weakens his force and Kairi falters, falling forward. Instinctively, his hand reaches out to break her fall. He catches her by the waist before her head hits the ground, but not before tapping the back of her torso with his Keyblade.

"...and, got'chu!" he exclaims happily, helping her up. He then notices Kairi's shellshocked expression. "Hey, Kairi, you okay? I don't think I hit you that hard…"

She eyes him suspiciously and slowly shakes her head. "No...I'm fine...sorry, I think I'm just tired."

Sora continues watching her every movement and expression, filing them away under his growing folder of 'Kairi's weird moments.' Whether he likes it or not, he feels a confrontation coming up. He just wants some clarity.

"Hey! Is Sora here?" a voice calls out from the doorway. Everyone in the room turns towards the speaker, an unfamiliar young man wearing an HBRC t-shirt. 'Newbie' is the word that runs through everyone's minds simultaneously.

"Yeah, that's me," Sora says, raising a hand and heading towards the door. "What's up?"

"Yeah, hey, they sent me to come get you," the young man says. Only after approaching does Sora notice the urgency in his voice and body language. "Let's go now!"

"Hey, wait, what's going on?" Sora exclaims.

"They wouldn't tell me specifics cause it's kinda personal, kinda classified." The young man's eyes dart around nervously as he hops between the balls of his feet. "Look, someone said it's about your mom."

Something in Sora's heart drops at the mention of his mom. In a rush, Kairi and Riku have rushed up to both his sides. The three of them easily stare down the short newbie.

"... _what?"_ Sora exclaims.

"What are you talking about?" Kairi snaps. "What does HBRC want with Sora's mom now?"

"Her anniversary's not till January," Riku adds. "What exactly is going on?"

"Look, guys, they said it was personal so they didn't tell me much! Can't you just go now to talk to Mr. Leonhart about this? I'm sure he'll explain everything!"

Ignoring the young man's rambles (and also the racing thoughts in the back of his mind), Sora runs off wordlessly out of the room and towards Squall's office. He tries his best to compartmentalize, but a few strands of thought escape.

 _It's been awhile since I've visited Mom...should probably drag Dad and bring some nicer flowers this time. Wouldn't want her grave getting dusty..._

* * *

 **A/N: I am alive!**

 **Happy April everyone! March's been a busy month (in a good way!), I'm sorry for missing an update. But my goal for April is to writewritewrite, specifically this story, so I'm hoping to get back into the biweekly updates. And although this plot is trudging along at a snail's pace, I swear it's getting somewhere! I also can't wait for when the two worlds collide. :D**

 **Thank you again for all the loving support and reviews, each and everyone one of them make me so happy and so inspired. Would love to hear your thoughts on what's happening to our characters so far. I do have some subplots brewing, so stay tuned!**


	5. Chapter 5

**C05**

 _Location: OATS (Operations and Tactical Support) Room 2, DiZA  
Time: November 23rd, 1:04 PM_

"Wait, so you're grounded?"

"On probation," Naminé corrects, because that word choice makes all the difference. At least to her. Grounded sounds so juvenile and beneath her. Also, it sounds like she did wrong - which technically she did, but that's missing the point...

"That's messed up," Hayner says, spinning around in his swivel chair. Naminé feels a little jealous looking at him seated so comfortably in her usual spot. It's Day 3 of probation and it already feels too long. The atmosphere right now in the room is pretty relaxed, unlike the usual tension she's used to, but that's because they're all on standby.

"So what're you doing here?" Hayner asks confusedly. "You might as well make the most of your time off and relax."

Hayner's absolutely right - she should be enjoying the down time, not lurking in the one place where she already spends too much time. But what else is she supposed to do? Hang out with (nonexistent) friends? Practice hobbies she otherwise has no time for? Those things all pale in comparison to the significance of her work as lead operator anyways. She supposes it's never too early to start brushing up for her level 4 Qual-E's.

"They're just wasting your skills by grounding you. Seriously. Why would Principal Wise do that?"

"Cause technically I broke the rules," Naminé recites flatly. She then sighs. "I know I did. But...what else was I supposed to do? Leave the field team exposed to danger while I tried to explain everything to Kain?"

"No, I'm totally on your side. You definitely did the right thing putting the team first. I still remember when I was an agent out there in the field. I relied on my team and all, but we were also really counting on you guys - OATS - to have our backs. We probably took you for granted a little. Man, we had some pretty good runs back then…"

Naminé quiets down, sensing that they're treading personal territory. Hayner made the decision to switch from field agent to OATS quite late, given that tracking starts as early as 10-years-old at DiZA. Naminé still remembers 2 years ago when Hayner's field team disbanded and all the members switched tracks. She had heard rumors about why that had happened but nothing concrete. And as per the norm, things soon died down when the students found something else to gossip about.

But with a firsthand source of information before her, Naminé can't resist the curiosity prompting her to probe. "Do you miss being a field agent?"

" _Hell yeah_ ," Hayner responds instantly. "I miss being able to actually _do_ something, you know? Here we're safe a million miles away behind all these screens and monitors."

"Right…" Naminé mumbles her assent, recalling her age-old desire to be a field agent. The thought that there's something more she could be doing... She shakes her head to clear her mind. "But hey, we're important too! We help the teams with all the background stuff. And like you said, we have their backs. It's a big responsibility."

"Yeah, I know." Hayner sighs, leaning back in his chair. "Things are just...different."

Naminé knows it's been 2 years since Hayner switched to OATS. She wonders how much he must've liked being a field agent if he still misses it now.

"Anyways, how'd you decide on OATS?" he asks.

Naminé shrugs, thinking of her discussion with her dad the other day. "Kinda always planned on doing it. My dad's done a lot with the radar and OATS protocol and stuff. Everyone said I'd be great at it, and turns out I _am_ pretty good, so I just stuck with it."

"Never wanted to go out there and see what the world's like?" Hayner grins. "That's one thing I miss about being a field agent: just getting out of this town. I mean, I know we're here for our own safety cause of the Heartless and whatever, but I get a little stir crazy sometimes."

"What's it like out there?"

"It's _sick_ ," Hayner cackles. "I mean, it's mostly just barren land and sand, but there's a certain energy to it, you know? I don't know how to describe it - maybe it's just the idea of the unknown. Of something new. Something unfamiliar for once that's not all surrounded by walls. And, oh, being able to see the horizon - that's gotta be one of the most perfect things I've ever seen."

Listening to Hayner talk, Naminé is entranced by his words. The lands outside the town walls sound so tempting, and the adventurous spirit in her wants to see them for herself. The line where the sky meets the land - or better yet, where the sky meets the sea. She wants to see waves and the ocean and dig her feet into the sandy beach. These are things she's only heard or read about. Maybe one day she can experience it for herself.

As if on cue, her stomach grumbles and Naminé holds back a blush. "Well. I'm gonna grab something to eat, be right back."

"Watch a pack show up the moment you leave," Hayner laughs.

"If that actually happens, you're the one who jinxed it," Naminé returns with a laugh before heading out.

Even having the time to leisurely grab lunch to eat is a foreign concept to her. She's usually in a rush from point A to point B, so not being busy is a strange feeling to her. Taking her time, she casually observes things she hasn't really noticed before: the cracks in the beige wallpaper, the potted plant outside Kain's office, and a familiar face dallying by the entrance of the department...

"...Olette?" Naminé hesitantly greets the brunette. Olette visibly jumps, and Naminé instantly feels bad. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

"No, it wasn't you. I just - " Olette's eyes dart about before finally settling on Naminé. "I'm a little jumpy." A thin smile stretches across her face. "How are you? It's been awhile."

"Good, good…" Naminé says slowly, recalling the last time she'd seen Olette. Besides chance encounters in school, Naminé remembers working with her team on a mission a few years back. "How about you?"

"...I'm okay. Ever since I switched to tech, things have been going pretty well." The smile on her face wavers a little before she asks, "Have you seen Hayner?"

"Oh yeah, he's on call now."

"Oh...so I probably can't see him now."

"Well, technically...but it should be okay. It's been quiet all morning. I can get you in - "

"No!" Olette exclaims, her voice sounding so urgent that Naminé looks at her with concern. Olette's expression then softens. "No, it's okay. I really shouldn't bother him at work. I just thought he'd be on lunch break or something…"

Naminé notices the brown paper bag in Olette's hands. "Um, well, I can pass on a message or something if you'd like?"

"...yeah, could you give this to him?" Olette hands her the bagged lunch. Judging by the size and weight, Naminé guesses it's a sandwich.

"Of course." Naminé tries but it's hard to suppress a sly grin. "Do you always make lunch for him?"

Olette blushes ten different shades of red. "No! I just...you know he only eats meat at the cafeteria, and I don't want him to die of some vitamin deficiency…"

"Okay," Naminé says airily with a chuckle. "I'll let him know you said hi."

"Okay...thanks Naminé."

Naminé stares at Olette, who's staring back at her. In the back of her mind, Naminé dimly wonders why Olette's still here.

"So, do you work with Hayner?" Olette asks.

Naminé blinks, pausing for a moment before answering. "Yeah, sometimes."

"How is he? I mean, what's it like? How's he doing?"

"Um, yeah, he's doing pretty good, I think. He's been busy getting ready for his Qual-E's in a couple of months."

"Oh, I didn't realize he was taking his Qual-E's so soon."

The conversation is starting to confuse Namine, and she gets a weird feeling, like she's somehow telling on Hayner. "Um, maybe he can talk to you more about it…" she trails off suggestively.

"Oh! Right." Olette nods and her voice instantly turns sharp. She takes a step back and straightens her posture but makes no motion to leave.

"...I'll go pass this on to him," Naminé says to excuse herself. She isn't entirely sure why she feels awkward around Olette but figures getting the hell outta here isn't a bad idea.

Scurrying down the halls, Naminé reaches OATS Room 2 quickly and finds Hayner staring boredly at the unresponsive monitor. As she walks up to him, he instantly straightens his posture and widens his eyes.

"Sir, yes - ! Oh, it's just you."

Naminé almost wants to laugh at his rapid change in expression. "Sorry to disappoint," she teases with a chuckle. "Were you expecting someone else?"

"To be honest, yeah. Like Kain. Why are you back so quick? You finished eating in...what, 10 minutes?"

"No. Here you go," she says, passing the brown bag to Hayner. He looks at it confusedly with raised brows. "It's from Olette."

"Olette was here?"

"Yeah. I just saw her hanging out by the department entrance."

"She was hanging out by the department entrance?"

"Well, I think she was looking for you. You probably should've told her you can't really leave the room while you're on call."

"...right. So, how was she?"

A familiar feeling strikes Naminé in the gut as she recalls her conversation with Olette. "Uh, I think she's pretty good. What did she say...oh, things are going well cause she switched to tech awhile back. Oh, and you're supposed to eat your veggies cause she doesn't want you dying of some deficiency."

The corner of Hayner's mouth quirks upward. He reaches in the brown bag and pulls out a Ziploc-bagged sandwich, the surplus of vegetable spilling out of the thin slices of bread. "Anything else?"

Naminé finally deciphers her strange gut feeling - a sense of déjà vu, because Hayner is asking for updates about Olette just like how Olette had been asking about Hayner. Naminé suddenly feels like an awkward middle man and belatedly wonders why they need a middle man. What exactly is going on between them?

"Um...I can't remember. Maybe you should ask her," Naminé says vaguely.

"Yeah, I probably should. I've just been so busy…"

"When's the last time you guys talked?"

"Like...maybe six months?"

"Six - _six months_?" Naminé exclaims, unable to hold back the surprise in her voice. "I thought you guys used to be on the same team!"

Hayner's lack of response worries Naminé. Finally, he mumbles a very belated, "...yeah." Naminé gives him a second to elaborate but he remains silent, instead choosing to take a bite out of Olette's sandwich. "...bleargh. Okay, it's not bad, but there's no meat. It's all veggies…"

Naminé quickly catches onto the very obvious topic change. "I'm actually going to the cafeteria now. Do you want anything?"

"Yeah. Like literally anything with meat in it. Bacon, if they have that. Something that's not so healthy, please."

She suppresses speculative thoughts about Hayner and Olette's disbanded team. "One BLT coming right up," she promises before dashing out of the room.

Passing by the department entrance, she's glad to note Olette is nowhere to be found. She tries recalling some of the rumors back then that seem somewhat viable given the present circumstances. Perhaps Olette and Hayner got in a huge fight, so they couldn't work together on a team anymore? But they don't seem actively hostile against each other. Maybe Olette feels bad and is trying to make up for things by preparing lunch for Hayner. But based on what Naminé remembers from working with them that one time, they don't seem like the type of people to hold grudges for 2 years. But who knows what they're actually like…

Considering all of these thoughts, Naminé absentmindedly reaches the cafeteria and lines up at the soup station. Belatedly, she realizes she's headed straight towards Cecil, who's deciding between the options available today. Recalling her conversation with him and Principal Wise earlier this week, her first instinct is to run and hide. But...

They have her favorite chicken tortilla soup today!

More importantly, she's not a coward. She's not going to let her fear of authority stop her from doing what she wants! Plus, if she just gets her soup and gets out quick, what are the chances he'll even see her? Steeling her resolve, she grabs a bowl and gets in line, keeping her eyes focused on the end goal: a nice piping hot bowl of her favorite soup...

"How are you, Naminé?"

Naminé almost spills the bowl of soup she'd served herself. She thought she could sneak by undetected if she just avoided eye contact with him. She certainly didn't expect Cecil to come up to her. Quickly summoning a smile, she focuses on keeping her tone casual yet respectful.

"Hello, sir. I'm doing well, thank you for asking. How about you?"

Cecil quirks a brow and smiles mysteriously. "Good as well. Have you spoken with Kain recently?"

"No, I have not."

"Well, I'll go ahead and let you know we finished our audit and nothing was abnormal. Good job."

"Thank you," Naminé says, internally sighing in relief. Though she knew there wouldn't be any problems, it's still a burden off her shoulders. This internal inspection is causing more anxiety than she'd like. It feels like her entire professional career is being questioned.

"So your probation period officially began yesterday. Either Kain or I will check in with you in 2 weeks before you get started again."

"Thank you, sir."

"Meanwhile, you'll still have your classes and homework, so I'm sure you'll be busy."

In reality, Naminé's only nominally enrolled at DiZA. She's long finished her required practical coursework but just has a handful of classes she needs to complete this year. Those classes are a breeze at worst, especially considering all she needs to do is pass. She's seriously considering the idea of preparing for her level 4 Qual-E's now.

"Well, I hope you have a good Friday, Naminé," Cecil says politely. "I'll see you on Sunday?"

"...Sunday?" Naminé repeats confusedly. "I thought we were checking in after my probation ends in 2 weeks."

"Right. Wait, sorry, I'd just assumed you were coming to the all-staff meeting on Sunday, based on that last mission you'd led." Cecil regards her cautiously, to which Naminé maintains a confused expression. "Did your father not tell you anything?"

"No...well, I haven't see him in awhile. I'm meeting him later tonight. What's going on?" She dislikes this feeling of not knowing what's going on and being out of the loop. Especially if it concerns the mission she botched.

"Oh, okay. I'm pretty sure he'll bring it up with you then."

"What is it?" She doesn't even care that she's forgoing etiquette and sounding demanding.

"Well, it's just that they say they've found a way to defeat those gray creatures."

* * *

 _Location: 20 Carnation Street  
Time: November 23rd, 6:04 PM_

The doorbell rings once, then twice. Sora sighs, rises to his feet, and then sits back down at the dining table. Pulling out his phone, he rereads his latest texts with Riku.

 _To: Riku  
Sorry for kicking you out of the house, I should be done by 8_

 _From: Riku  
Np take ur time, I'll text u before heading back_

Sora knows he's just dragging things out at this point. When the doorbell rings for the third time, he jumps to his feet and dashes over to the door. He rests his hand on the doorknob and then pauses, dread running through every fiber of his being.

Hardening his resolve, he tightens his grip and opens the door.

"Hey Sora. How're you doing?"

"...hey Dad. Come on in."

Sora steps aside to let the older man in. He eyes the bottle of wine in his father's hands and tries to maintain a neutral expression as they head towards the dining room.

"...so, you've been good?" his dad asks.

Sora summons a forceful grin. "Yeah. Busy with work. You?"

"Good, good." His dad rests the wine bottle on the table. "Now before you say anything, I got this as a gift from an old friend of mine. It would've been rude to say no. So I accepted it and brought it for you instead."

"I didn't say anything, Dad," Sora insists but readily takes the bottle from his dad.

"Sure. You were about to," he says, to which Sora has nothing to say in return. "Anyways, what do you want to order? Chinese?"

"I called pizza, and there's some salad in the fridge. Lemme go grab it…"

Sora ducks to the kitchen and grabs the large bowl of salad greens he had made earlier. The chilly burst of air from the refrigerator helps cool him down a little and slow his racing thoughts. His dad always makes him overthink a lot.

"Here it is - _Dad_."

"What?" his dad exclaims innocuously, shifting the 2 wine glasses on the table. "C'mon, you can't drink by yourself!"

"I wasn't going to drink," Sora says plainly, setting the salad bowl on the table. "Dad, you said that you've been staying away from alcohol - "

"I know, I know. I'm basically clean! But I can't _not_ have a drink for the rest of my life!"

"Dad, you know how this works! The doctors said - "

"The doctors said to stop drinking because they're doctors! It's like hamburgers and fries - you know it's killing you, but why do people still get it? It's all about balance! And I get that now! C'mon, Sora, I've been watching myself. But I have a life, y'know? I wanna celebrate the good things."

"And what exactly are we celebrating? Mom's death?" Sora asks dryly. "Cause when were you going to tell me about the memorial service?"

"Hey, we just planned things out last week! The main event's a celebration for 5 years of no major Heartless attacks. And Maya's name came up on a list of veterans who had passed during the battle, so I figured we might as well go ahead - "

"I had to find out from a rando that this was happening! Did you even stop to think about asking for my opinion?"

"You know, you've always acted like you have the final say in things about her. She was your mom, but she was also my wife. I care about her just as much as you do!"

"That's not what I - !"

Sora inhales sharply and swallows his next words whole. He has enough insight about their relationship to recognize the destructive path they're headed down. The fact that they're shouting is an early warning sign he's learned to heed. Sora exhales slowly and tries to calm down a little. Just a little.

 _For Mom's sake_.

"...okay. Do whatever you want. I don't care."

"I don't get why you're upset," his dad interrupts. "We're celebrating Maya's life. She gave her life for you and me - for all of us in this world. We should honor her for that."

"Of course I want people to recognize Mom and what she's done during the last invasion. But...what about you, Dad? What have you actually done for her?"

"Wha - are you _accusing_ me now? Of what, not loving her enough? Not planning out of her funeral thoughtfully? Not hosting memorial services every year on her death date - Sora, you didn't do any of that either, so you don't get to accuse _me._ "

"I bust my ass at work doing everything I can to live up to her legacy. But for you, it's all about these flashy moments to memorialize Mom. It's like you're just riding on her coattails, cause you haven't done anything with your life since Mom died - "

"SORA!"

The loud holler startles Sora into silence. The tension in the room is so thick he feels himself growing tired. This is why he tries his best to avoid his dad - because things never turn out the way he intends.

Ultimately, the doorbell breaks the silence. Sighing wearily, Sora grabs a 10 munny bill and wordlessly hands it to the deliveryman. Shutting the door and turning around, he sets the pizza box down on the table. After another minute of silence, he gives up. "Let's eat," he announces, and both he and his dad grab a slice and sink into their chairs.

The rest of dinner proceeds largely wordlessly, sans the occasional, "This pizza's not bad" and "Can I have some water". Sora has accepted this as the norm of his relationship with his dad, who is too proud to ever apologize or concede anything. On one hand, Sora just wants to give up on their relationship entirely, because it's been years and it's shown no sign of improvement. On the other...his dad is essentially the only family he has left.

"...thanks for having me over, Sora," his dad says as he puts on his coat and gets ready to leave. Sora shrugs, overall feeling disappointed with how the night went. But another voice in the back of his head asks what else he'd expected.

"Sora," his dad says before heading out.

"What?"

"...I'm not making any excuses," he begins carefully, and Sora perks up to listen. "But...it's been rough without Maya. I miss her. Like I know you do."

And then with moments like this, when his dad reveals a shread of vulnerability, Sora knows he can't - won't - ever give up on this familial relationship.

"Yeah. Sorry for saying that stuff earlier, Dad," Sora finally decides to apologize.

"No, Sora, it's okay…" his dad trails off awkwardly. The overt politeness sounds harsh to Sora's ears. This wasn't how they were before and certainly not how he wants to characterize their relationship. But so far, this is the only way they can relate to each other without triggering an argument of some sort. Maybe one day things can go back to normal.

"Watch out for yourself, Sora. Don't work too hard.

"Thanks Dad. You take care too."

After sending his dad off, Sora shuts the door and relishes the silence. With nothing else to do, he decides to get started on washing the dishes. Eying the unused wine glasses, he sighs in relief that his dad is driving home sober.

He's confused when he hears a knock on the door - Riku sould have his keys, and he isn't expecting anyone else for the night. Setting down the dish rag in his hands, he heads to unlock the door.

"Hey man, it's all good - whoa, what's up?"

It takes him a moment to realize that the stony-faced man at his doorstep is indeed his housemate. Before Sora can say anything, Riku latches onto his wrist and tugs him out of the house.

"Whoa, wait, what's going on?" Sora barely has times to grab his keys and lock up before Riku drags him away.

"Why aren't you checking your phone?" Riku returns as both of them hop into Riku's car, parked in the driveway with the engine on.

"What? I told you, I was having dinner with my dad. You know what he's like with phones out during meals," Sora returns. He makes himself comfy in the passenger's seat, meanwhile wondering what is the cause of the obvious anxiety written across Riku's face. "What's going on?" he tries asking again.

Riku drives off into the night without a word. Based on their route, Sora quickly figures out they're headed to HBRC. The silence is unsettling, and finally Sora cracks. He rests a hand on Riku's arm and repeats his question.

"Dude. What is going on?"

Conveniently, they hit a red stoplight. Slowly exhaling, Riku turns towards him and regards him carefully.

"Listen, Sora...it's Kairi."

* * *

 **A/N: I am alive! (I literally said the same thing last time, cause I suck.)**

 **Sorry for the late update, work just hit me in the face this month and I had a super shitty week last week. Also, I'm gearing up for med school applications so unfortunately I'm gonna be a little busier. This project is still very dear to me though, and we're just warming up with these first few chapters so I hope you'll stick around for more to come! Just a heads up, next update will probably be in a month.**

 **Shout out to my reviewers who really keep me motivated in writing this story! Also, sucks that I can't respond to Guest reviewers, but you guys are the nicest, and I promise more action and drama to come when our characters finally meet!**


	6. Chapter 6

**C06**

 _Location: Hollow Bastion Main Hospital  
Time: November 23rd, 9:04 PM_

The moment Riku parks the car, Sora jumps out of the vehicle and beelines towards the hospital.

"Hey, wait a sec, Sora - !"

He vaguely hears Riku yell something but is too focused on his destination. Dashing up the front stairs, he walks through the entrance and heads straight towards the receptionist.

"Where's Kairi?" he exclaims, slamming his hands on the front desk.

The receptionist shoots him a judgmental glare and slowly turns towards the computer. "Good evening, sir. Can I have a name, please?" she prompts.

"I'm Sora."

"..."

"..."

"I meant the patient's."

 _...oh_. Sora smiles nervously, though the receptionist does not look amused at all. Before he can give Kairi's name, Riku finally catches up to him.

"Dude, I said wait for me," Riku complains, latching onto his arm. "C'mon, Captain said she's in ICU." Leading the way, he drags Sora down the hall. It's a lot easier to let Riku take the lead, so he lets himself go on autopilot to mentally catch up with everything.

The last few hours are still a blur in Sora's mind. He still doesn't know all the facts except what Riku told him: that Kairi went on a mission, things went south, and she was admitted to the hospital. He draws a deep breath, trying to not think about all the worst case scenarios his mind conjures.

"...thank you. We'll head over now."

Sora looks up, realizing they're somewhere else in the hospital and Riku's talking to a nurse behind yet another front desk. The two of them head back towards where they came from, with Riku dragging him by the arm. Sora looks from his arm to Riku's hand and realizes he probably looks like a kid throwing a tantrum, with Riku as the responsible adult. He quickly flings Riku's hand aside.

"What's going on?" Sora demands.

"What?" Riku pauses, hand reaching for Sora again. "C'mon, they said she was transferred to one of the rooms."

Sora hastily pushes him away. "Stop treating me like a child. Tell me what's going on!"

"...Sora. We're in the fucking hospital, looking for Kairi. She was in the ICU but they just transferred her to an inpatient room. Is that good enough for you?"

Sora narrows his eyes, sensing the frustration emanating from Riku. "Why do you sound so condescending?"

"For god's sake - Sora, if you had paid the slightest attention in the last few minutes, you'd know all of this! Look, let's just go, okay? Visiting hours end soon."

Wordlessly, they continue, Sora following Riku's lead. They stop outside a nondescript room labeled D33. Hesitating briefly, Riku knocks and slides the door open when he hears a voice inviting them in.

Sora trails behind, cautiously observing all the medical equipment in the room. He looks from the heart rate monitor, to the hospital bed, to the IV line, to…

"Kairi. How are you feeling?"

Kairi snorts at Riku's good intentions. "Not so good, but considering the circumstances...I guess not too bad. What're you guys doing here?"

"To make sure you're following directions and not driving the doctors crazy," Riku grins, pulling up a pair of chairs next to her bed.

Sora blinks. For some reason, the sight of Kairi seems surreal. She looks so out of place, wearing an oversized hospital gown in this dimly lit room and looking so _weak._ He was just fighting her one-on-one a few days ago!

He snaps back to reality when Riku tugs on his shirt. Realizing his friends are staring, Sora quickly sits down in the spare chair.

"Of course I'm following directions!" Kairi exclaims. "They said to get some rest, so I'm hanging out with my friends now - oh, oops," she chuckles, not a hint of remorse in her voice.

Riku rolls his eyes. "What else did the doctor say?"

"Just no food or drink, and to stop getting myself into trouble all the time. Hey, did you know I winded up with the same doctor as last time? She said she remembers me because of my hair - of course - and also cause they nearly tore the hospital apart looking for me last time. Seriously, I just wanted some alone time but I had to hide myself in a closet! There's like no privacy in this place. The doctors and nurses just come in and out whenever they want. It's worse than the dorms in our first year! Hey, remember that time Sora told us he was changing in his room and Captain Lockhart walked in on him? I still crack up thinking about it! ...Sora?"

Kairi had been rambling, so he more or less hadn't listened to exactly what she'd said. But upon hearing his name and noticing his friends staring (again), he tries to piece together the conversation. Something about the doctor and Captain Lockhart? No idea what the connection is there. He'd noticed Kairi's laidback demeanor, which causes a spike of frustration in him for unclear reasons. Quelling the surge of emotions, he tries to keep his voice even as he speaks.

"Kairi...what happened?"

Kairi raises her hands helplessly and sighs. "What happened? I'd like to know too. I mean, whatever they did in the surgery room really worked. I don't feel any pain now! Or maybe that's the morphine…"

"Seriously, Kairi," Sora interrupts. His raised tone does not go unnoticed by his friends, who stare wide-eyed. "You went on a mission?"

"Oh. I mean, it was with Selphie and them. I was hanging out with her, but their team was technically on call and - get this, they were actually called in! Talk about bad luck. Anyways, it was just a pack of Heartless, but there were a little more than the cutoff of 30, but they didn't have any other teams nearby to call, so I volunteered cause I was there already. We all headed out towards the border, and it was actually kinda nice getting out there again! I miss the wilderness. It was kinda romantic, actually. Except for the fact that we were there to slaughter Heartless…"

" _Kairi_ ," Sora interrupts, starting to grow impatient with her meandering speech. Kairi's always chatty, but even he can tell she's just trying to distract them. Her casual demeanor in this serious setting is really upsetting him.

"Then one snuck up on me, so they sent me here to patch me up. That's all," Kairi finishes quickly. "But seriously, we need to get Squall to let us do fieldwork more often. You guys would _love_ this forest I saw - "

"Kairi, you're in the main hospital. _Again_." Fed up with her attempts to change the topic, Sora decides to get straight to the point. As he recalls her last visit here, Sora feels a chill run up his spine. How can she be so relaxed about everything? Why can't she take things seriously for once? "You aren't just getting 'patched up' - you're here cause you were _seriously injured_."

"Okay, whatever, _Dad_." Kairi rolls her eyes. "You know I'm gonna get the lecture from my parents later. Cut me some slack, will you?"

The deluge of feelings finally reaches a tipping point. Amidst the emotional confusion, Sora can only recognize the familiar onslaught of sudden all-consuming rage.

" _You're in the hospital, Kairi!_ This isn't a joke, so stop acting like one!"

Kairi frowns, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm not a joke. And of course I know where I am. You're acting like a jerk, Sora."

"Well, I think I'm the only sane one here! Why are both of you acting like this is no big deal?" He gestures at Kairi and Riku, who stare incredulously. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Sora, you need to calm down - " Riku begins but Kairi's voice easily drowns his out.

"What the fuck is your problem?" she shrieks, glaring at Sora. "Are you seriously mad at me for ending up in the hospital? You're being a dumbass jerk!"

"Well, why don't you explain to this dumbass jerk why you're in a hospital bed?"

"If the dumbass jerk was using his ears, he'd know I literally just explained!"

"You didn't explain anything. You just told a story! A story to entertain people and make light of the situation, which makes it obvious that you're not taking this seriously at all. Why can't you stop treating everything like a joke - "

"This obviously isn't a joke, cause _nobody's laughing!"_

Kairi'sloud exclamation punctuates their conversation, and then silence rests in the room amidst both parties' heavy breaths. Sora feels another retort about to slip from the tip of his tongue, but suddenly Riku stands up and grabs him by the arm.

"We're taking five. Both of you," he says sternly. Before Sora can respond, he's dragged out of the room and tossed towards the wall - _oww_. He rubs his shoulder where he hit the wall and looks back at Riku, who has swiftly shut the door behind them and is staring at him now. He always forgets Riku's kinda-sorta stronger than he looks.

"What's your problem?" Sora exclaims.

"Are you serious? That's my question. Kairi's hurt, and the first thing that comes to mind is to have a screaming match with her?"

"I didn't - she started it!"

"Seriously? It doesn't matter," Riku says. "What the hell are you thinking? Besides the fact that she's injured and needs rest...she's injured and needs rest! Why would you pick a fight?"

"Didn't you hear her? She acting like she's just getting patched up in the infirmary or something! She's not taking this seriously at all! Who does she think she's kidding?"

"What do you want her to do? Curl up in bed and cry? She's probably just trying to be strong in front of us, you dumbass! You've known Kairi your entire life, haven't you?"

"Exactly! I've known her forever, so I know that she thinks everyone's exaggerating and everything's fine. Everything's _not_ fine, Riku! It's like she thinks this is all a game or something! This time she was in the ICU for who knows how long, last time she _almost died_ \- what's gonna happen next time, huh? What needs to happen for her to be serious? This is her life we're talking about!"

"...look, Sora, I get where you're coming from. Last time was really scary for all of us. But that doesn't mean we get mad at her for ending up in the hospital. It's not like she wants to be here."

"You think I'm making a big deal out of everything, don't you?"

"I think you're strung a little tight cause you just had a dinner with your dad. You've got a lot going on in your head, so just go home, Sora. I'll stay with Kairi."

"You're on her side then."

"This isn't about taking sides!" Riku exclaims. "Kairi needs rest, and you're not helping. _Go home, Sora."_

Rarely does Riku use his authoritative voice. A little stunned by the turn of events, Sora huffs loudly and turns on his heel. Determined to not look back, he walks all the way out of the hospital and into the cold night. The frigid breeze gives him the chills as he rubs his arms for warmth.

"Shit," he mumbles, realizing Riku has the car keys. Flipping through his pockets, he's surprised to find a $20 bill so he heads towards the taxis nearby and hops into one.

As they drive into the night, the driver decides to make small talk. "You just got out of the hospital?"

"Huh? No, I was visiting someone," Sora responds dimly, counting the streetlights outside.

"Oh. They doing okay?"

"...I guess. She was in the emergency room, but she's just resting now."

"Oh, cool. How 'bout you, man?"

"What?"

"You doing okay?"

Sora considers the question. He recalls Kairi's fiery retorts and the deep furrow of her brows. He remembers Riku's stony gaze and stern command for him to leave. However, thinking more is not a task his brain can handle right now.

"I'll be fine," he says dismissively and returns to mindlessly watching the passing night scenery. He'll figure things out tomorrow. Namely, how he managed to piss off not one but both his closest friends in just one night.

* * *

 _Location: Main auditorium, DiZA  
Time: November 25th, 1:31 PM_

"We appreciate everyone coming today on a Sunday afternoon…"

Naminé fidgets in her seat. The sheer amount of faculty members in the room is intimidating to say the least. She wants to know more about the gray things and how to defeat them, so she'd agreed to tag along with her dad's invitation to this session. She thought it'd be an informational presentation, but given the turn up of several high-level staff, this appears more formal than she'd expected.

"Are you okay?"

Naminé's eyes dart towards her dad seated next to her. He pats her on the knee, and she smiles softly. "Yeah. Just...I feel like I don't recognize a lot of the people here."

"Oh, yeah. I think there's some people from the government here too…"

Naminé's heart lurches. The _government_? She's way underqualified to be here! Is it too late for her to sneak out?

"...our pleasure to have a representative from Organization XIII here with us today. Organization XIII is an independent research group that studies Heartless and other abnormal enemies. I'm sure most of us in the room are aware of a new type of monster threatening our borders. These gray beings..."

With a click, the presenter brings up a picture on the monitor. This is Naminé's first time seeing an image of the gray things. The picture is super low res, but it clearly depicts a wiry being with a well-toned body. Its arms and legs taper off to sharp tips that Naminé deduces can slice through human flesh like a blade. It has no face, just a symbol imprinted on top of its head and a mouth full of razor sharp teeth. Naminé ingrains that image in her mind and dimly wonders how Team Giraffe even had the courage to stand before such a frightening creature.

"Please welcome Luxord, a representative of Organization XIII, who is here today to share some recent developments from their group."

A tall, aristocratic-looking man walks onto the stage. His neatly combed hair and confident strut reinforce that image. Naminé notices that despite the formality of the situation, the man appears rather relaxed with his casual smile and laidback demeanor.

"G'morning, ladies and gents! My name is Luxord, as previously introduced, and it is my honor to be here today and share what our group, Organization XIII, has been working on. But first...a quick game, shall we?"

Game? Naminé figures she isn't the only way confused by the progression of events. Luxord pulls out a deck of cards from his pockets and shuffles rapidly. He walks towards the audience and fans out the cards, holding them out to a random woman in the first row. "Pick a card, ma'am. Any card."

After a moment of confused hesitation, she points at one and takes a look at it. After she replaces it in the deck, Luxord hastily shuffles the cards again. Peeling off the one on top and showing it to her, he asks with confidence, "Is this your card?"

The woman makes a small 'oh!' of surprise and nods.

"And you, good sir? Care to pick a card?"

Luxord repeats this little game with a few more people in the room. Naminé gets a little nervous when he approaches her row, and to her surprise, he ends up picking her dad for one round. Of course, he ends up guessing her dad's card correctly, which confuses Naminé. She'd suspected that Luxord had planted people in the room to play this game, but certainly her dad wouldn't be involved in such a juvenile display of arrogance.

"Alright, I suppose that's enough fun and games for now. Back to the real show!" Luxord chirps as he pockets his deck of cards and returns to the stage up front. "That was likely frustrating for many of you, right? Constantly being one step behind the dealer, me? I wanted to show everyone that this is exactly how you are dealing with Nobodies right now: you are one step behind the real deal. And we, Organization XIII, are here to show you how it's done."

Nobodies? The real deal? Naminé only feels her head getting bigger and more confused.

"'Nobody' is the name we've given these gray things you all have encountered encroaching your borders as of late. Given the lack of information on them and the fact that they appear unbeatable, they are obviously a very hostile threat to all the worlds. Organization XIII was fortunate enough to obtain a few captured specimen to study their behavior and habits. And through our research, we have deduced a possible method of defeating these seemingly invincible creatures."

Yes, Naminé breathes excitedly, this is what she's here for! A way to topple these beings, to protect her world and make sure no other teams end up like Team Giraffe…

"The solution is quite simple. Essentially, you have been focusing on the wrong targets. These Nobodies are smokescreens, distracting you from the real enemies, which are…"

Naminé stares at the next slide on the screen. It's...a picture of a Heartless?

"In studying Nobodies, we've noticed a correlation between their behavior and certain other Heartless specimen we had acquired. And to our shock as well, we realized that certain Heartless and Nobodies appear to be linked! The mechanism of this link has yet to be fully understood, but we realized that to defeat the Nobodies, we need to defeat their associated Heartless as well. This is the piece of the puzzle you have been missing. Yes, is that a raised hand I see?"

"Are you saying that by taking out the associated Heartless, the corresponding Nobody being will also be defeated?" someone in the audience asks.

"To be precise, the corresponding Nobody will be severely incapacitated. Thereafter, it should be easy for your well-trained agents to take them out," Luxord explains.

"How do we know which Nobody and Heartless are associated?" someone else wonders.

"Ah, great question!" Luxord exclaims happily. "Unfortunately, without the equipment back at our headquarters, I cannot adequately explain the process. Which leads me to my concluding point, which an invitation to all interested parties to our headquarters for a live demonstration of how our proposed method plays out in real life. We are housed at Castle Oblivion, a small world not too far from Hollow Bastion. I believe Director Harvey will discuss details with you all pending a final discussion between our two groups."

Naminé follows everyone else in the room in turning her attention towards Cecil, who is seated in the front row. He rises to his feet and faces the crowd to speak.

"As Luxord has mentioned, we are still figuring out the details and how to proceed. We are very grateful to have Luxord's presentation today, and I would like to spend the last 10 minutes on an open Q&A session."

Everything Luxord talked about has generated quite a lot of buzz in the room. Naminé is excited by the prospects as well. A verifiable way to defeat these threatening new enemies? She's just surprised that the government couldn't figure this out themselves.

"Before we end," Cecil announces, "I just want to say on behalf of DiZA - or, on behalf of Land of Departure, we are very grateful for your presence here today. As I'm sure you're aware, traveling between worlds can be rather perilous, and it means a lot that your organization would come out of the way to share this valuable information with us."

"Of course. We aspire to serve," Luxord says with a light tone.

"I do have one more question," Cecil continues, and the room falls quiet. Luxord's smile also drops ever so slightly. "You say that defeating the Heartless will sufficiently incapacitate the Nobodies to easily topple them. Would you say focusing our efforts on the Heartless from now on is a surefire strategy?"

"Well, sure. If you don't believe us, you can give it a try and see for yourself. But I'd be careful if you aren't sure which Heartless and Nobodies are associated. As I'm sure you know, those Nobodies can cause quite some damage." He chuckles, as if the thought of Nobodies harming others...amuses him? Naminé tries not to read too much into his demeanor.

"Based on what you said, it sounds like if we can defeat all the Heartless, then we don't need to worry about the Nobodies because they won't be able to fight back. Is there any value added to being able to discern which Heartless are linked to which Nobodies?"

Luxord's bemused expression doesn't even waver as he responds evenly. "As a representative of Organization XIII, of course my answer would be yes. From a logical standpoint, you really want to minimize your chances while out in the field. I guess the questions would be: one, how can you ensure that you've taken out _all_ Heartless associated to Nobodies in a given fight? Two, can you fend for yourselves against the Nobodies while giving concerted effort on the Heartless? And three, how do you think your agents would respond to knowing you have turned down this opportunity?"

Luxord raises valid points that Naminé finds herself agreeing with. Perhaps it's her background in OATS that has instilled in her: do everything to minimize risk. You want to be able to have control over all variables. Knowing any additional piece of the puzzle can greatly benefit the field agents and OATS team.

Also...what is this eerie tension in the room?

"...thank you," Cecil says with finality, which rouses light applause from the audience. Luxord grins, bows ostentatiously, and exits stage right.

With all the excitement surging through her, Naminé barely listens to the closing remarks by some important person on stage. On her side, her dad is just as ecstatic.

"Isn't this great? We could nip this problem in the bud!" he exclaims.

"I know! It's been stressing me out so much - I mean, how are we supposed to fight an enemy who's invincible?"

"This will also free up a lot of people who were reassigned to dedicate their work to studying these things! What were they called again? Nobodies?"

"Yeah, and it relieves a lot of stress from an operative standpoint as well." Naminé exhales. "When are we going to Castle Oblivion?"

"...I guess we'll have to see. It sounds like there are still some logistics to work out. Intergalactic travel is incredibly dangerous."

"I know, I know…" Naminé mumbles, though her eyes remain bright and eager. "Do you think I could tag along?"

"Naminé!" her father exclaims. "Did you not hear what I just said? It's dangerous!"

"C'mon, Dad! This is important information!"

"I'm sure if they go, they'll bring the information back. There's no need for you to go in person."

"Dad!" Naminé pouts, but she knows that doesn't work on her father at all. "I - I need to learn this so the same thing won't happen again. So I...I can actually be responsible for people." Her mind wanders to recent events, and Team Giraffe, and the female operative who's still in the hospital…

Her dad sighs heavily and rests a hand on her shoulder. "Naminé...you can't be responsible for everyone. You're only responsible for what you can control." He pauses for a moment and then speaks up again. "Look, it's not up to me whether you can go or not - it's up to Cecil. I know this is important to you, but you have to be patient. Things will happen when it's time."

Her dad's vaguely encouraging words aren't particularly uplifting. Naminé's mind is focused on the thought of figuring out this problem. Preventing tragedies from happening. Doing her job well.

 _Well, if Cecil has the final word on this, then it's a good thing he already knows me. Though..._ Naminé pauses worriedly. _I didn't exactly leave a good first impression…_

 _But he'll understand. This is my job, after all. I_ have _to do well._

* * *

 **A/N: Omg she's alive?**

 **Yes I am. I apologize for the unannounced hiatus, but to be brief, I've been going through the ups and downs of a relationship and grad school application. Unfortunately, stress makes me incredibly lazy so I didn't feel up for actively engaging with our beloved characters. But this fic (and my other) has always been lurking in the back of my mind, because the story must go on!**

 **Aka I have no excuse for my lack of updates, but I will never give up on a fic.**

 **Also, hopefully this most informational chapter gives more context of the situation. Now all that's left is for our characters to (finally) meet! Please let me know what you think about this chapter with a review, I really do appreciate it and will respond to each review individually. :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**C07**

 _Location: Hollow Bastion Main Hospital  
Time: November 30th, 5:13 PM_

Sora inhales deeply. Holding his breath, he knocks on the hospital room door.

For a good ten seconds, no one answers. He hesitates briefly but finally decides to enter after announcing his presence.

The room is indeed empty, but just as Sora's turning around, a familiar pair enters through the door. Kairi is holding onto a mobile IV stand, while her mother hovers by her side fretting about one thing or another. Despite the frustration in Kairi's tone, she can't hide a small smile that suggests she enjoys being fussed over - at least Sora knows he would.

He meets Kairi's eye and smiles nervously. Kairi's mother notices him, beaming but then expression turning sour to match her daughter's. Sora sighs internally, figuring he deserves this response given what he'd said to Kairi last week.

"So you brought flowers," Kairi's mother says in a vaguely disappointed tone that Sora has heard before. He readily hands the bouquet over to the older woman. "Well, carnations are a little inappropriate for the occasion - "

" _Mom_ ," Kairi grumbles.

"They're a nice color," she finishes airily. "I'll find something to put these in, so you two can talk. We can grab dinner as well," Kairi's mother decides. Sora is used to the woman's pushy ways, so he simply nods.

Once the door shuts behind her mother, Kairi sighs. "Here to tell me off again?"

"...c'mon, Kairi. I even brought flowers."

"Doubt it was your idea."

"...right, it was Riku's." Sora watches Kairi slowly seat herself on the bed. "Do you need help?"

"No, I…" she trails off, wincing as she slowly shifts her body to lie down. The smallest movements seem to take her a gargantuan effort, and Sora can't bear watching her struggle. He leans towards her, grabbing the covers to tuck her in.

Kairi flinches when he takes her hand off the sheets. He looks at her worriedly, wondering if he'd provoked an injury. Her wide-eyed expression seems to convey shock more than anything, but before he can ask more, she turns away from him to look out the window.

Sora draws a deep breath. He'd prepared for this but still feels nervous as hell.

"Kairi...I'm sorry for yelling at you," he starts, remembering his numerous coaching sessions with Riku. "Not sure if you know, but I'd just had dinner with my dad that night. And everything with the memorial service and my mom just had me on edge - I'm not making excuses," he hastily cuts himself off, "I'm just...sorry I took it out on you."

Kairi's gaze slowly drifts his way and she sighs. "I know. And I'm sorry that you're going through all of this and I can't help. Instead, I'm stuck on bedrest until my vitals pass some arbitrary test…" Kairi's voice trails off to one of annoyance -

And there it is again, the tendrils of frustration creeping in Sora. Even he knows that everything else happening to him is only half the reason he'd snapped at Kairi. The other half is still convinced that his opinions are valid - that Kairi isn't taking this seriously enough.

Wary of repeating what happened during his last visit, he steers clear of that topic...for now.

"Well, take advantage of your break. You know Squall's gonna have you hitting the gym everyday after you're cleared."

"Oh my god, I was trying to not think about that. Last time I was so sore that I was walking funny for _weeks_ after boot camp - and Selphie made some crude joke about it…"

Sora snorts. "It did kinda look like it." Kairi glares, so he quickly clears his throat. "I mean, when do you think they'll let you go?"

"Who knows?" Kairi pouts. "They gave a concrete timeline once in the beginning - two to three weeks - but now they just keep giving me vague answers. 'When you're feeling better,' the nurse says. Well, I'm feeling just fine! So can't I - ow, oww…"

Sora sighs, heart throbbing at the sight of Kairi flinching at her injuries. There's so much more he wants to ask her about - the mission she'd picked up with Selphie's team, more matchmaking ideas for Squall (their team's self-assigned side mission), how 'weird' Kairi has been acting recently...but he feels an unspoken truce in the air. This is as normal things have been between them for awhile. He sees how vulnerable she is, physically recovering from wounds and entrapped in this room. He doesn't want to confront her about everything when they've just patched things up.

So he stores his questions in the back of his mind. He can always ask some other time. Now, he just wants to support Kairi. She's a precious friend and teammate after all. The two of them pass time with Sora updating her on everything at HBRC that she's missed. Per Kairi's mom's request, the three of them head to a nearby restaurant for dinner. Kairi's dad meets them there, where they enjoy a tasty meal of rice and fried chicken.

"So, I heard about the memorial service," Kairi's dad broaches the subject during a lull in the conversation. Sora manages to focus on the chicken wing in hand. Nonetheless, he feels Kairi's dad watching him intently.

"...um, yessir," Sora mumbles belatedly, brushing the crumbs off his fingers and looking up. He briefly meets Kairi's eyes, which gives him the courage to meet her father's. He summons a smile. "For all the deceased veterans, right?"

"And to celebrate 5 years of safety," Kairi's mom adds, resting a hand on her husband's arm.

"Yes, you're right, dear." Kairi's dad places his hand over hers. "All courtesy of the men and women protecting us."

"And you too, honey," Kairi's mom adds with a proud smile.

"Aw, I just do the busywork," Kairi's dad says with a guffaw. Sora chuckles at the man's humility. He's known Kairi's dad since he was a kid, when Kairi's dad was still on the bottom rungs of the government. He now holds a prominent position in the department of domestic affairs, but you'd never tell at first glance.

Kairi's dad then turns serious. "You kids, Sora and Kairi, you're the ones on the frontline protecting our world. We're safe from the Heartless because of all the brave men and women who put their lives on the line."

Then again, he tends to pull these grandiose speeches out from nowhere, so no doubt he's a politician.

"I know HBRC only handles low-level ops, but I still worry about you, Kairi," her mom murmurs. "When the hospital called, I thought it was like last time - "

She chokes up for a moment, and the table grows eerily quiet. Kairi's dad quickly fills the silence.

"Your mother and I, we worry, Kairi. It's a dangerous job."

"C'mon, you guys," Kairi begins petulantly. "We've talked about this before. I want to help. I want to do something for our world. Just like dad." She looks towards her father, who's smiling proudly. "This is how I can contribute. Plus, you know Sora and Riku are watching my back. Stop worrying all the time."

"We're parents - it's part of the job," Kairi's mom quips. The family chuckles brightly and the tension resolves, replaced with a familial warmth Sora has envied from a young age. It's sometimes hard not to compare Kairi's family to his.

" _Maya, please. Another long-term op? You just got back last week."_

" _You know how these things are. I go where I'm needed. Where our world needs me."_

" _Well, have you thought about where your family needs you?"_

" _...how dare you say that to me."_

Sora shakes away the feelings to focus on the conversation before him. Kairi and her parents are chatting about other jobs they would've pursued. Kairi talks about being a schoolteacher, to which her mom points out it's not too late, and while laughing it off, Kairi excuses herself to use the restroom. Her mom rises to help her, which leaves Sora with Kairi's dad at the table.

"So, Sora. What else would you do?" he asks jovially.

"Huh? Me, sir?" Sora does a double take and realizes they're talking about alternative careers. "Well, I've never really thought about it. I was always set on the army, like my mom..."

"A noble profession, that's for sure," Kairi's dad concedes. "But also very dangerous and not for everyone."

"Yessir," Sora agrees. "I can't imagine anything else for me though."

"I see…" Kairi's dad takes a long sip of his beer. "Well, don't let the job consume you. Work is important to a man, but so are other things. Like family. You're a soldier, but you're also a son, and you could be a husband, a father…"

"Well, I'm still a little young to think about that…" Sora chuckles nervously. "I'm only 21."

"You think you're young and you have all the time in the world. But that doesn't mean your girl will think so. If you meet the right girl, Sora, the best advice I can give is to not let her get away."

Kairi's dad trails off, looking towards the side with what looks like a nostalgic expression. Sora isn't sure how to interpret the pointed silence, so he's infinitely grateful when the rest of their party returns to the table.

"Why's it so quiet? Dad, did you tell a lame joke again?" Kairi whines while sitting down.

Her dad squawks. "What do you mean lame joke?"

"I bet Sora was too nice to call you out so there's just awkward silence," Kairi quips.

"No, I was just passing on some wisdom to the next generation. It was a meaningful silence."

"Sureeeee…"

"Well, do share your wisdom," Kairi's mom says with a grin.

Sora smiles hesitantly. "Uh, well, we were just talking about, uh…"

"When you meet the girl of your dreams, make sure you snatch her up!" Kairi's dad finishes boisterously.

"Eww, Dad, you're giving Sora _love_ advice?" Kairi squeals.

"Your dad is right though!" Kairi's mom chimes in. "Were you sharing from personal experience?"

Kairi's dad downs the rest of his beer before sighing satisfactorily. "Should I? Well, more than 20 years ago, on a dark, stormy night…"

"Oh god," Kairi groans, hands cupping her ears while she shuts her eyes. "This is so embarrassing…"

Sora laughs at the lighthearted atmosphere. He's literally grown up with Kairi and her parents by extension since he had to stay over often as a kid. Jabbing Kairi with his elbow, she opens an eyelid to peer at him. He grins, pointing at her parents.

"That's cute."

Kairi scoffs, cheeks flushing at the comment. "My parents? I think you mean disgusting."

"Disgustingly cute, a little. But mainly cute. And sweet."

"Ugh, don't remind me. They just celebrated their anniversary, and Dad ordered the full menu from one of Mom's favorite bakeries...I still can't eat anything from that bakery without wanting to throw up. Also, this story?" Kairi gestures at her dad, who Sora realizes is actually recounting the tale of how he met Kairi's mom. "I've heard it a billion times. I could probably tell it better than them."

"I can see where you get your loving personality from," Sora returns.

Kairi stares at him for a moment before breaking into a grin. "This is dumb. Let's ditch and grab ice cream."

"You know I'm always down for food," Sora agrees readily, grabbing his things. They make enough ruckus that Kairi's parents notice they're leaving.

"Where are you two going?" Kairi's mom asks. "We still have dessert."

"I hope you get something as sickeningly sweet as you two," Kairi returns. "We're gonna go to Scrooge's, bye."

"Don't stay out too late, you need your rest," Kairi's dad reminds her.

"Sora, please make sure she gets back by 11 PM," Kairi's mom requests.

"Yes ma'am. C'mon, Kairi, we're on the clock."

The two chat and laugh while Sora drives towards Scrooge's ice cream parlor. On the way, Riku texts him to ask where he is, so Sora responds with the address of their destination. The pair enters Scrooge's, and before Kairi can say anything to the cashier, Sora takes the initiative and recites her order from heart.

"A two scoop in a cup, one scoop strawberry and one mint chocolate, with caramel sauce and whipped cream please. And a single chocolate scoop on a cone as well." Sora quickly pays and sits down with Kairi, who's looking at him with an astonished expression.

"What?" he says, a little self-conscious with the blatant staring.

Kairi opens her mouth but then closes it and shakes her head. "You're impossible to read sometimes, Sora."

"Really? Everyone says I'm like an open book. You've said before that I can't lie."

Kairi narrows her eyes. "You're right, I did say that. Maybe I'm just overthinking…"

"Overthinking what?"

Kairi's quiet for awhile, which Sora wants to question but he's distracted by Riku's familiar silhouette entering the store. He waves down their friend, who blinks in surprise and cautiously approaches.

"Hey, guys," Riku says, looking from him to Kairi. "Didn't realize you were with Kairi, man…"

"The more the merrier, right?" Sora exclaims with a wide grin, swinging an arm over Riku's shoulder as he slides into the booth seat. "What's up?"

"Nothing at all, you should've told me you guys were hanging out and I could've - "

"What are you talking about, Riku?" Kairi interrupts sharply. A smile then spreads across her face. "Like Sora said, the more the merrier. What's up? You look a little tense."

"Yeah, what happened?" Sora probes, noting Riku's knitted brows and surlier-than-usual expression.

Riku draws a deep breath and then exhales slowly. "Nah, just had a long day. Oh, dude, check your email. I got approved for the volunteer mission."

"Oh, shit, I totally forgot about that…" Sora scrambles to unlock his phone, noting the email notification. Riku gives a quick explanation to Kairi: while their team is on break given Kairi's injuries, the two of them decided to be useful and signed up for open positions in a volunteer mission. Truthfully, Sora had signed up while he was still mad at Kairi and wanted to avoid her. Riku, being the amazing friend he is, followed suit.

"What's the mission?" Kairi asks.

"YES!" Sora exclaims, throwing his hands into the air. "Me too, man! High-five!" His palms meet Riku's, the loud smack reverberating in the air, until their bromantic moment is broken by Kairi repeating her question.

"It's pretty simple," Riku explains, "we're attending a conference and writing up what we've learned. On second thought, it's weird that they went through a semi-rigid selection process given that it's volunteer-basis..."

"Cause intergalactic travel is expensive, so they could only pick the best of the best!" Sora exclaims.

"What? Where are you going?" Kairi asks with a hint of envy in her voice.

Sora grins, excited for this upcoming mission. It's been so long since they've even left the border, much less traveled beyond their world.

"We're going to Castle Oblivion."

* * *

 _Location: OATS (Operations and Tactical Support) Room 2, DiZA  
Time: December 3rd, 6:30 AM_

Though it's the crack of dawn, Naminé's day has already started...or at least it was supposed to.

She stares angrily at the schedule posted outside the OATS room. _Her_ OATS room. She was supposed to head a mission, per her phone reminder, but she'd forgotten to mute it since starting probation. When her alarm had gone off at 5:30 AM, she'd autopiloted through her morning routine and arrived at her destination before realizing she was still suspended.

Stepping back out into the crisp morning air, Naminé figures she's too alert to go back to sleep. She has nothing to do - and for the umpteenth time since starting probation, Naminé realizes that she has absolutely no life outside of work (what does DiZA count as anyways - school? Employer?).

She trudges towards the cafeteria, pocketing her granola bar and yogurt cup in favor of a hot meal. To her surprise, she spies WINNER in a corner, chatting noticeably louder than the rest of the morning crowd. Though she's sitting three tables away, she can clearly hear most of their conversation.

"...you both owe me ice cream," Axel declares.

"What? Stop pulling this bullshit all the time," Xion counters. "You just make stuff up and think we won't call you out."

"I just bought both of you ice cream last week," Roxas complains.

"That's cause you lost our bet," Xion chirps.

"Wait, why'd I pay for yours?" Roxas stares at Axel pointedly.

"Cause you shouldn't have been betting in the first place," Axel says matter-of-factly. "Anyways, you both owe me ice cream, and I'll tell you guys why. Remember that super-selective mission we all signed up for? The one heading to Castle Oblivion?"

"Oh yeah, when'd they say they'd get back to us?" Xion asks.

"By Wednesday. But anyways, I got confirmation that we'll get in for sure."

"...what'd you do, Axel?" Xion asks suspiciously.

"What? Are you doubting me, your team leader?"

"I second what she said." Roxas points his thumb in Xion's direction. "That sentence sounded sketch, Axel."

"Oh ye of little faith! Isn't trust the foundation of any team? How can we work together if you don't believe in me?"

"Stop being a drama king and tell us what happened," Xion snaps.

"Okay, okay. So, I heard from my man Rai, who we all know just recites what Seifer says verbatim, who was talking with Aqua cause they have their weird thing going on - "

"What?" Roxas squeaks. "When'd that happen?"

"Seriously, Roxas? Get with the gossip." Axel rolls his eyes. "Anyways, where was I...Aqua, who heard from Cecil himself - probably cause she's his fave - that the main criteria for getting selected is if the big bosses approve."

"Big bosses? What's that mean?" Xion asks.

"Y'know. Basically Cecil, Edge, or the principal. And I sure as hell can get fricking Edge ma man to guarantee me. Of course, we're all a package deal, so you're welcome you guys for a sponsored trip to Castle Oblivion!"

Xion beams and excitedly high-fives the taller boy, while Roxas snorts with a pleased grin on his face. Obviously, WINNER is ecstatic about going on this mission, which sounds to Naminé like the presentation invitation by Organization XIII. It makes sense to bring field agents, since intergalactic travel poses the risk of Heartless attacks. But they'll need at least one or two OATS operators to coordinate, right…?

Though said OATS operator is technically still on probation.

Naminé considers what Axel had said about the 'big bosses' having the final say. Well, Cecil likely won't approve her. She's probably not on the principal's favorites list either, since he was the one who had proposed her probation in the first place. Which is a shame, since usually she's a teacher's pet just cause of her grades. That leaves one person who would vouch for her…but Edge handles the field agents. That's partially why he and Axel are best buds (they have kinda similar personalities, now that Naminé thinks about it). Naminé had met him years ago along with hundreds of other students in class for mandatory basic field training. He probably - definitely - doesn't remember her. Also, even if Edge miraculously vouches for her, Cecil would veto it. The principal too, probably.

Lost in thought over this dilemma, she jumps when someone rests a lunch tray and sits down across from her.

"Dad! What are you doing here?"

"I feel unwelcome," her dad quips, digging into his plate of food that largely resembles Naminé's. He chuckles at Naminé's rolled eyes. "Grabbing a bite before heading to a meeting and thought I saw you. Sorry, I just ended up crashing at the office last night..."

"At this point, they should get you a futon or something," Naminé grumbles. At her dad's mumbled response, Naminé sighs. "Let me guess - you bought one yourself."

"Like you said, makes sense, right? Given how often I have to stay over." Her dad grins innocently. Naminé supposes there's a lot of things she could say, but most of them are unproductive. She sighs, returning her focus to her food.

"...my probation ends in a few days," Naminé mentions.

"Oh, right! I'm sure you're looking forward to heading missions again. You should enjoy the rest of your break though. What have you been up to?"

Naminé grimaces at the question. What has she been up to? Besides sneaking into some of Hayner's missions and getting a super headstart on studying for level 4 Qual-E's, she's picked up some...'old people habits,' for lack of better words. By that, she means sleeping early, waking at the crack of dawn, learning to bake chocolate chip cookies, and going on long one-hour walks. Physically, she's feeling a little healthier. Mentally, she's still finding the balance between enjoying her leisurely routine and growing restless from the lack of work.

She doesn't want to sound like a loner, nerd, or grandma though. She does remind him about the chocolate chip cookies, since she'd had him try some the other day.

"Oh, that's right, those cookies! Haha, they were...flavorful, weren't they? By any chance, did you give them to anyone else to try?"

"Well, I ended up leaving some in the student lounge. They were all gone by the end of the day, crumbs and all."

"Oh, interesting…" her dad trails off mysteriously. Naminé isn't sure how to interpret his comment, but she brushes it off in favor of asking a more pertinent question.

"Do you know when's the mission for Castle Oblivion?"

Her dad's gaze hardens, and she knows that he knows why she's asking. "To my knowledge, the pre-selected crew is heading out this Friday…" Which is _after_ she'll be reinstated! "...but you haven't been selected, have you?"

"I signed up," Naminé grumbles under her breath. It's the first thing she did when the announcement went out. But what can she do to sway the vote in favor of her?

"Naminé, there's a reason I'm against this, and there's a reason they're being so selective with who they bring. It's _dangerous_. I don't know how else to tell you that except by repeating it over and over again…"

A ruckus from a few tables down catches her attention. At WINNER's table, a lot of people have gathered for unclear reasons. Eying the commotion, Naminé's about to approach out of curiosity when her dad stops her.

"Did you know him?"

"Huh?" Naminé blinks, staring at her dad.

Her dad looks at her pointedly. "The kid who passed away. Did you know him?"

Naminé's blood grows cold as she turns to watch the crowd once more. A few of the students are crying or on the verge of tears. It looks like they're constructing a mini shrine with a framed picture and...platefuls of the cafeteria tater tots. The scene is a little jarring because of it, but that just makes it all the more eerie. Naminé can't see the picture from where she sits, but she vaguely remembers seeing an announcement for this impromptu memorial service.

"...no," she mumbles in response to her dad's question. "What hap - did he…?"

"KIA during a field mission," her dad murmurs. "Good kid. I know his dad, he works in a lab next to ours…"

It's not the first death among her peers Naminé's heard of. DiZA does their best to protect them as kids, but as she's grown older, she'd started to see the truth. That lives are lost everyday to maintain security within the borders. That tracking into OATS or field work is mandatory for everyone because even schoolkids are expected to contribute to the war efforts.

She knows her dad isn't bringing up this kid to prove his point, but it's nonetheless a timely reminder of the truth behind his words. Naminé's part of the generation that's grown up relying on the safety of the border. She wouldn't say she's ever faced true danger.

She isn't entirely sure why she's so fixated on joining this mission. Usually, by now, she'd have acquiesced to her dad's suggestions. Maybe it's the recent screw up during the Code Black mission that has her grasping for opportunities to prove herself. Maybe it's just to go against what her dad says (is this that teenage rebellion thing?). Mainly, she just feels like she needs to go so she can do her job properly and be good. Shouldn't that be enough?

Her feelings come in package deals these days. Being a teenager sure is tough.

... _package deals_. She suddenly recalls what Axel had said earlier, about WINNER being a 'package deal' so if Edge guarantees Axel, then he's gotta guarantee the entire team. What if she made the argument that she's also a package deal?

Now all she's gotta do is package herself...

* * *

 **A/N: Comeback time!**

 **I'm back - not that I ever really left, but I wasn't updating this fic - but here I am, 'cause I'm committed to seeing this grand vision of a story through, so here you go, here's the next installment for _Legacy_! Please leave a review and let me know what you think about the (slowest progression of) plot, characters - or anything! Old readers, thank you for sticking around while I silently passed this fic's one-year anniversary. ****I hope everyone stays tuned for more!**


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